Perfect Mess
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Instead of traveling the world, and working his way up, Chris Jericho is offered a WWF contract straight out of the Hart Dungeon, how is his world going to change?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters and the real people in this story do not belong to me. The characters belong to Vince McMahon and WWE, and the real people own themselves. This story will contain some adult situations and swearing. You have been warned.

* * *

**

A/N: Yes, a new story, I know, I know, another one. Anyways, this one takes place in 1992 approximately, and Chris is 22. Um, I don't know what else to say, but I hope you enjoy it. :)

Anyways, leave a review, as always, be brutal if you want to, I appreciate all reviews.

* * *

Chris couldn't believe the opportunity that he had been given. He wasn't five months out of the infamous Hart Dungeon when he got the call, the call he had been waiting for since he was just a little kid with a dream. The WWF had called and he had been in talks with them for a little while now. They were interested in bringing him in for a tryout, and if that worked out well then he would be offered an actual contract. When he had first gotten out of training, he had gone through some of the indy companies with his friend and tag-team partner, Lance Storm, and had done some traveling, but he didn't know his name was out there.

But apparently it had been as the call had been made to him. At first he thought it might be a joke, he wasn't that experienced and hadn't paid his dues so to speak, but it hadn't been. If it had been a joke, he would've laughed it off, but this was serious. This was the big time, in fact, this was the biggest time. Everyone knew that the WWF was considered the big leagues, the very big leagues. Chris had dreamed of making it big, making a name for himself and for it to be coming so soon was an incredible rush. He was only twenty-two so he had many years ahead of him, and yet, here he was, almost to the biggest company in wrestling.

"Don't get cocky now."

"Shut up Lance," Chris said good-naturedly as he looked over at his friend who was stirring a cup of coffee.

"What? I'm just saying that you shouldn't get cocky now that the WWF has invited you in for a tryout. How the hell did they get your name anyways?"

"I don't know," Chris shrugged. "Maybe one of the guys I wrestled with over in Japan or something. I did meet Kevin Nash, maybe he said something. The important thing is that my name is out there. That means that maybe I can you know, make it really big and buy a huge house and a nice car and not that piece of shit that I drive now."

"It would be nice if you had a car that actually had air conditioning."

"That would be nice instead of living with the windows rolled down which gets annoying," Chris responded. "Can you imagine if I actually get a contract, that's going to rock so much. Oh man, I'll finally have money to go to all those metal concerts I want to go to."

"Yeah, and food, and a place to live and all of that," Lance said sensibly. "Unless you plan to have all this money and then live in your car."

"Don't ruin my buzz man," Chris said.

"So when are you flying out there?"

"Tomorrow," Chris said. "I'm meeting with Vince freaking McMahon. Can you believe that? Vince McMahon, he's made and broken people. I'm a little nervous to tell you the truth."

"YOU'RE nervous, I think this is a first," Lance told him.

"I don't need your damn commentary Storm," Chris told him.

"Dude, just go back to the room, listen to some Maiden and you'll be good to go in the morning, trust me," Lance said. "There's nothing to be nervous about."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to meet with Vince freaking McMahon, he's like…man, I don't know," Chris muttered. He looked up at Lance. "I don't have any experience."

"Sure you do, we've been wrestling around, we both are trained by the best, you can't go in there acting like a little pansy-ass, grow a spine dude."

"I have one," he said, standing up and pushing his chair back. "I'm going to take your advice and go listen to some Maiden and then get to sleep so I don't look like death warmed over for my meeting with Vince."

"Yeah, don't want to look like you've been on an all-night bender."

"Whatever," Chris said, throwing down a couple bucks for his coffee. "See you in a while."

Chris pushed his hands into his pocket as he went out into the cold Pittsburgh air. He had been at a wrestling show here that night and he was still buzzed a little on the adrenaline from the match and the coffee he had just drank. He sunk his neck into his coat a little bit more, trying to ward off the cold until he got to his hotel. He was used to cold, growing up in Canada, but you never got so used to it that you were impervious to it completely. He just walked to his hotel blindly, wondering what his future was going to bring him.

He had no clue what was in store.

But the future was inconsequential to the present. And the present found him at his run-down hotel room, in a run-down hotel. He changed out of his clothes, pulling on a long t-shirt and some pajama pants, the room was freezing and he climbed under the covers, wiggling his toes, trying to get them warm. He reached towards the portable tape player on the nightstand and put the headphones on, calming down to the opening strains of Iron Maiden's "Where Eagles Dare."

The next day he took his flight to Connecticut, and he was so nervous that he didn't think the winter's cold was the one chilling him to the bone. The building loomed in front of him. Was it just him or was it totally and completely intimidating. He was wearing the only suit he owned and he knew that he was totally going to feel inferior when he stepped inside that building. But he was going to do it, he had to.

He walked inside and took a deep breath, going up to the receptionist in the very front and asking where Vince McMahon's office was. She directed him to the right bank of elevators and he thanked her graciously, totally aware that she was checking him out. He had gotten used to that over time. He knew he was a good-looking guy, at least not totally butt-ugly. He was used to getting cheered by females, had heard the screams for him at shows. But he wasn't the type of guy who went after the ring rats hanging around the show. He didn't want to catch anything.

The elevator showed up and he stepped onto it, pressing the "Door close" button, but then saw someone running for the elevator, a young girl, brown hair flying behind her, her dangly earrings clinking together. Chris tried to get the elevator to stop for her, but it was already on the way up. He felt kind of bad, but as the elevator went up, up, up, his stomach fell further and further down until he was on Vince McMahon's office floor. He stepped out nervously and adjusted his tie unconsciously. He walked up to the receptionist, another one, and smiled charmingly at the older woman.

"Hello, may I help you?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah, I had an appointment with Mr. McMahon. Chris Jericho."

"Oh yes," she smiled. "Go right on in."

"Right in?" Chris said. He thought he'd get to sit down for a few minutes and contemplate what he was going to say. She nodded and he gulped, and he thought she could hear him. He adjusted his tie again and walked into the office. Vince was sitting at his desk and he stood up to shake Chris's hand. Chris shook it as firmly as he could muster.

"Have a seat," Vince told him.

"Thanks," Chris said, his voice a little high as he cleared it.

"So, I've heard some great things about you, and I've gotten some tapes and talked to some people, and I have to say, you've got talent. Granted, you're still learning, but I see you going places Mr. Jericho."

"Chris," he interjected.

"Chris," Vince corrected himself. "But I wanted to grab you before you could be snatched up by anyone else. I think that we could have something here, and I think that you can really make it to the top."

"Wow, that's…thank you sir."

"Vince," he said. "I like to have a good repertoire with my talent. Anyways, I want to make this work, and I think that if we start you out on the ground floor, we can work you up in a positive way. The fans like you yes?"

"Yeah, I like to think they do."

"Good, we'll start you off as a face," Vince said. "Besides that, we'll discuss your-"

"Daddy!" came a slightly screechy voice. Seconds later, the girl he had seen from the elevator bounded into the office, totally ignoring him. "Daddy, I need to ask you something!"

"Stephanie…"

"No Daddy, now," she demanded, not even realizing that Chris was standing there. He studied her a little closer, seeing the resemblance between her and Vince. She looked like her father. Her hair was pulled back now, probably because it had been getting in her face while she was running. There was a pair of sunglasses perched on her head.

"Princess, I'm busy."

"But Daddy, this is important," Stephanie told him. "My school is having this big play thing right? And I wanted to go, but Shane said that I had to go to some dinner with some of your boring, boring, BORING clients. Please don't make me go Daddy, please."

"Stephanie, I'm in a meeting."

"What?" Stephanie asked, glancing around and her eyes landing on the blonde man seated across from her father that she hadn't even noticed. She gasped a little as she looked at him. He was the most gorgeous guy she'd ever seen in her life and she lamented the fact that he had seen her as a whiny, little girl. Her father always said that first impressions were important and here she had made the worst one ever with a really cute guy. She mumbled, "Sorry."

"It's cool," Chris said smoothly. "I'd want to go to a play too."

Stephanie laughed a little bit. "I just…I'm really, really sorry Daddy, I didn't meant to, like, interrupt whatever this was, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Chris said. "You didn't scare me off from your dad's company."

Vince laughed. "We'll discuss the particulars later. Stephanie, you won't have to come to the dinner if you show Chris around Titan and get him acquainted with the building."

Vince expected her to protest, but Stephanie just smiled, "Deal Daddy."

"Cool," Chris said, standing up. "I'm Chris Jericho by the way. And you are…something McMahon."

"Stephanie," she told him, shaking his hand, and Chris was surprised that she would just go out there and shake it. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Stephanie."

Chris and Stephanie walked out of the office and she silently gave a little squeal that she was next to such a hot guy. Chris just wanted to know his way around the building. Stephanie was a little girl to him, a young girl, and although she was pretty, she wasn't the type of pretty he was after. Stephanie though, she had developed a fast crush on the man beside her and she was determined to make a better first impression, and maybe make herself look better in his eyes.

Welcome to the WWF, Chris.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter. Yes, I could take this a lot of ways and I hope that you enjoy where I take it and continue to review. Hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

"So…Chris Jericho? Stage name?" 

"Yeah," Chris told the girl, "Irvine is my real last name, but I go by Jericho so as not to confuse anyone…so think of me as Chris Jericho."

"Okay, I will."

"So how old are you Stephanie?" Chris asked, trying to be nice to his new boss's daughter. She didn't seem obnoxious or anything, which was a good start. She didn't seem snobby or pretentious either, which he was surprised about. It seemed like it would be so easy to be a snob when your father owned such an important and large company.

"I'm sixteen," she told him, damning the fact she wasn't however old Chris was. He was more than cute she had found out, he was really nice too, and he was so hot that he didn't have to be nice, so it was a nice combination.

"Good age," Chris chuckled.

"I guess," she said, looking down. "So how long have you been wrestling?"

"Not that long actually, which is why I was a little surprised that your father contacted me to join the company," Chris explained. "I'm five months out of training."

"Well, maybe he just saw something in you," Stephanie told him with a smile, hoping that she was coming off as nice and not whiny like she had earlier. She could kick herself now for acting like a spoiled brat in front of him. If it had been anyone else, Bret or Shawn or even Kevin Nash, she wouldn't have cared, but this new guy, this really gorgeous new guy, she was so angry with herself. "So this is the tape library, um, everything WWF-related that's been filmed is in here, I don't know what you'd use it for unless you're feuding with someone and you want like footage of them."

"Cool, so you spend a lot of time here then, if you're able to be an in-house tour guide."

"My parents work a lot," she said evenly. "If we want to see them, we pretty much have to come down here."

"We?"

"Me and my brother Shane, but he's away at college, he goes to Boston University, so he's not around much either, so it's kind of just me," she said a little sadly. She missed her brother dearly. Growing up, it had usually been just them since her mother and father were building an empire and that usually meant that they had to be out of the house and away from their children.

"I know what you mean," Chris said sympathetically and Stephanie looked up at him, her eyes glinting off the fluorescent lights above them. "My dad was a hockey player, he was gone a lot too."

Stephanie nodded, "It kind of stinks sometimes."

Chris saw this girl next to him and sort of felt a brotherly bond with her. She was a lot nicer and down-to-earth than he would've first imagined. She also had similar experiences to him, and that was something of a comfort, that he had already found someone that he could relate to in this company, even if it was a sixteen-year-old girl. He chuckled at that.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," Chris shook his head, "So do you travel with your dad to shows?"

"No, well, that's not true," she corrected herself. "I travel with him when I have a free Monday, like a holiday from school. He'd never let me miss school. My dad wants me to go to college and become something great."

"That's a good goal to have."

"I'm going to work here," she shrugged, looking around. "I belong here."

"How do you already know that?"

"Just do," she said impishly, a smile gracing her face. "Do you have any brothers or sisters? Preferably younger," Stephanie joked, "and especially brothers."

Chris had to laugh at her directness. He hadn't really met anyone who was so blunt before, sure Lance could tell it like it was, but Lance didn't do the whole self-deprecating thing a lot. Stephanie, on the other hand, it was like she didn't really have a filter on her mouth for anything, "Sorry, no younger brothers, or sisters for that matter, parents broke the mold with me."

"I'd have to agree," she told him, smiling at him and winking before staring straight ahead. Chris was now seriously impressed with this girl. Had she just winked at him? "Anyways, that's the gym right there, but you probably won't use that much since you probably don't even live here do you?"

"No, can't say that I do, I actually have a small apartment in Winnipeg," he said, still a little taken back by her boldness of words. Stephanie was reeling inside. She was usually never so forward, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to look confident in front of him. Sure, she was a confident person in high school, but that was high school, Chris was in his twenties, far removed from the dregs of high school.

"Canada, nice," Stephanie responded.

"You know Winnipeg is in Canada?"

"I'm not stupid," she said sarcastically, "but I think that's pretty much everything you'd ever want to know about the building. I can't imagine you'd spend too much time here, I think my dad just wanted me to get out of his office."

"Well, this was very invaluable, and I thank you for showing me around," he said, sticking his hand out.

"No problem," she said nonchalantly, shaking his hand and trying not to show her delight at touching him again. He had such nice hands.

"Stephanie, I'm going to need that hand back," Chris said as Stephanie broke from her reverie and cursed herself again for looking like a complete dweeb in front of him. But when she looked up and saw his easy smile, before nearly melting, she knew that he was just a nice guy and wouldn't make fun of her for her stupidity or shortcomings.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, looking anywhere but into his eyes. "But I guess, welcome to the company."

"Thanks," he said, looking around. "So should I be scared?"

"What?"

"Well, this is the big-time, you've been around it all your life haven't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Should I be scared?" he asked again.

"No."

"Good," he told her. "Well, I better get going, I was hoping to get out of here today and get back home tonight, I didn't want to have to pay for a hotel, even though I'm going to sign a contract, I still don't have a lot of cash and the taxi here and back was money enough spent."

"Oh yeah, um…I could give you a ride to the airport if you want," Stephanie said, not knowing where the hell that had come from. She had acted on pure impulse, her father would be very proud.

"No, you've probably got better things to do, but thanks for the offer anyways," Chris told her. "But I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, it was really nice meeting you Stephanie McMahon, and I hope whatever that play thing you wanted to go to is really fun, you'll have to give me details later."

She was excited about the "later" in his sentence. Did that mean that he was going to see her again? She was young and to her brain, the possibilities were completely endless. She was already picturing herself with this man, but he would never, ever look at her the way she wanted. She was just a damn kid to him. Besides, someone as good-looking as Chris just had to have a girlfriend, right?

"And you've probably got some girl to get home to," Stephanie said, trying to sound like she was joking and not trying to pump information from him.

"Not subtle," Chris said and she blushed furiously. He thought it was kind of cute that she would get so embarrassed after the boldness she displayed earlier. She was an enigma. "And for the record, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh," Stephanie said, still blushing, her face turning even redder if that was possible. She felt the burning of her face up to her ears. "Well, bye then."

"Bye Stephanie McMahon," he said kindly before her disappeared from her view. She stood there a few moments, reeling from meeting the blond man. He was…incredible seemed such an inadequate word to her. But that's what he was, and she could think of no better adjective to better describe the man. She sighed and went back upstairs to see her father, her day becoming a little gloomier in a moment's notice.

Chris's day was pretty fantastic though, having had a successful meeting with Vince McMahon. He walked into his apartment later that evening, whistling an unfamiliar tune that popped into his head. His apartment seemed brighter and less drab than it had that morning when he had left it. The answering machine was blinking and he pressed the button to listen to his messages.

"_Chris honey, it's Mom, let me know how the meeting went, talk to you later, bye."_

"_Yo Jericho, you better tell me what the hell happened during that meeting today. Call me back when you get home."_

It was too late to call him mom, not wanting to disturb her, but it wasn't too late to call the second message-leaver, Lance. Chris undid his tie, throwing it somewhere to be found at a later date and threw of his jacket, leaving it hanging haphazardly on a chair. He grabbed the phone and flopped down on the couch, hoping to find some replay of a hockey game or at least something worth watching. He dialed Lance's number and listened for the click of his friend picking it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lance, it's me man, what's up?"

"Not much, how did the thing go?"

"I got offered the contract," Chris said with a smile on his face. "Vince said that I could be a superstar, now whether or not he was bullshitting me, I don't know, but the offer was attractive."

"What're you going to get paid, do you know?"

"Not officially, but I'm guessing somewhere in the 50,000 dollar range, which is pretty goddamn enticing. It's hard living off of like 14,000 a year. I could buy myself a cool, nice apartment that actually has warm water all the time."

"That's radical," Lance told him. "So what else happened?"

"Not much, his daughter kind of interrupted us and he said we'd save the rest for later, so I'm guessing when I get my contract. I should maybe hire a lawyer or something, to make sure I'm not getting the short end of the stick."

"Wait, daughter? Was she hot?"

"She was sixteen," Chris scoffed. "I'm not looking at a sixteen-year-old."

"Well then, was she nice at least, or was she one of those spoiled, little rich kids who just wants Daddy's credit cards and nothing else?"

"She was actually really nice," Chris answered. "When she first barged into the room she was completely whiny, stuck-up, but then Vince made her take me on a tour of the building and she was actually really nice and not at all stuck-up."

"Awesome," Lance said. "Get in good with the kids and you're in with the boss."

"I'm not getting in good with her or anything, she was just different than I imagined any kid of his to be, she had a sense of humor and everything," Chris replied. "If anything, she'd be like a little sister to me, if anything."

"Still, at least she wasn't snobby, I hate snobby bitches."

"Dude get over Angela," Chris said. "Except for having a nice rack, she wasn't anything to write home about."

"Whatever, and when is the last time you were on a date…oh that's right, it's been too long for me to remember," Lance shot back.

Chris scoffed, "That the best you got Storm? You know I'm focusing on my career. What girl is going to want to date a guy that lives the way I live? I can put off the dating until later when I'm a huge rock-star and the girls will be falling at my feet."

"Yeah, right," Land countered. "You really are too focused on your career. But look where you are now? Big leagues man, big leagues."

"Yeah, but don't worry, I won't forget about the little people that got me here," Chris said sarcastically. "Although, the receptionist at Titan was checking me out, she seemed pretty young, at least my age, she was kind of hot."

"Go for it, what do you have to lose?"

"My job for one if I'm caught screwing around with the receptionist."

"Dude, come on, go get some, you're too much of a prude," Lance told him.

"That's funny, coming from you," Chris said, enjoying the usual light-hearted banter between him and one of his closest friends. "Still though, if I really do have the chance to be a legit superstar, I'm going to take it, forget women, think of what could come with me getting the WWF Title, man that's huge."

"I swear Jericho, you're too job-minded, you have to live a little."

"I'll live a little when I retire."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm signing my contract, gonna make me some money," Chris sang along with the music that was blaring through his apartment. "Gonna get real big, gonna get the title."

He was excited, as you could probably tell, because he was signing his contract the next day. He would officially be a part of the WWF, and he couldn't be happier. His parents were happy that he'd actually have a steady income as well, and maybe this would finally propel them into thinking that he could actually make a career out of his wrestling thing, and not just consider it a passing fancy.

He was flying out to Connecticut the next day to meet up with Vince and officially sign the papers. Chris had had a lawyer go over them, one who cost him an arm and a leg, but everything had checked out and so he was going to be signing it tomorrow and getting the first advance on his paycheck since he had to pay for flights costs and what not. But he didn't really care because his salary had just gone up by a lot and he could probably move out of this dump.

In a non-dump in Connecticut, the McMahon family was just sitting down for dinner. Stephanie put her gum into the trash as she walked into the dining room, sitting in her usual chair. Her parents were talking so she just helped herself to some food and sat there, eating by herself as they spoke. She looked across the table to where Shane should be and sighed. It was times like these that she missed him the most.

"So that new prospect is signing his contract tomorrow," Vince informed Linda.

"Exciting," Linda responded and Stephanie's ears perked up.

"Do you mean Chris Jericho?" Stephanie asked, trying to contain her excitement.

"Yes," Vince said, recognizing her for the first time since she had sat down for dinner. "You met him the other day."

"Yeah, you had me take him on a tour. So he's really signing tomorrow?"

"Yes, I just said that Stephanie," Vince told her and then went back to conversing things with Linda, something financial that needed her attention or something, but Stephanie's brain was a millions miles away. She had to get there tomorrow, she had to show up and see Chris Jericho again. She had developed a fast crush on the older guy and she wanted desperately to see him again. It had been two whole weeks and that was such a long time. She hadn't even been able to get her hands on any of his matches to watch so she'd have something to say to him.

"You know Vince, maybe we should invite this boy over for dinner," Linda said. "As a sign of good faith, and he's so young, Shane's age, he's probably a little homesick sometimes."

Linda was always thinking of others, and constantly inviting wrestlers over for dinner whenever they were in town. Usually it would be the boring ones, but this was anything but boring. Stephanie turned to her father, awaiting his answer, but knowing he would agree since he never disagreed with Linda. Linda was really the one in charge around their house, although Linda let Vince believe that he was.

"Of course Linda, I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Good," Linda responded lightly as she went back to her meal.

Stephanie finished her food in record time and asked to be excused, fairly racing into the kitchen to dump her dirty plates in the sink before running full speed upstairs. She collapsed onto her bed and grabbed the pink phone sitting at her bedside, dialing the number of her best friend Mel quickly and waiting for her friend to answer as she stared at the ceiling.

"Hello?"

"Mel, it's Steph, you are not going to believe who is coming over for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Um, let me guess, some wrestler?" Mel asked sarcastically.

"Not just any wrestler," Stephanie said excitedly. "The one I was telling you about, Chris, the one without a girlfriend, he went out of his way to say that he didn't have a girlfriend, remember?"

"You won't let me forget," she responded. "But have you forgotten one little thing Steph? You're sixteen, he's like in his twenties, that's like, you're never going to go out with him."

"I know," she sighed. "But it's nice to think about isn't it? He's just like the cutest boy I've ever seen. He puts all the lame high school guys to shame."

"Hey, don't talk that way about Court," Mel said. "He's the cutest senior in like the world. He's so radical."

"But Chris is older and he's traveled and stuff, that makes him so much cooler than any of the guys at our school."

"Yeah, like Ben, who is so in love with you," Mel told her.

Stephanie pretended to gag, "He's a little kid compared to Chris."

"Stephanie, it's never going to happen, so you might as well give it up, he's not going to look at a sixteen year old. If he's as cute as you say he is, he's going to get a girlfriend who's probably just as pretty as a supermodel or something."

"Way to crash my spirits," Stephanie said. "But he's coming over for dinner so I have to look my best."

"You always look your best."

"But better than best," Stephanie said. "I better go, I need to coordinate my outfit for tomorrow."

The next day arrived and Chris went to Titan like he was told and signed the papers with a confident hand as Vince looked on with a smile, his lawyer over his shoulder. Chris put the pen down and smiled as Vince took up the papers and handed them straight to his lawyers. He stood up, Chris following suit and they shook hands, effectively sealing their new partnership.

"My wife, Linda, wanted to invite you to dinner tonight as well," Vince said. "It'll be a nice chance for us to get to know you a little better now that you're working for us."

"I'd like that Vince but I didn't exactly plan to stay overnight so I don't have a hotel room or a car or anything."

"Don't worry, I can set you up in the best hotel in the city, just leave that to me, as for getting to my house, I can have a chauffeured limo drive you there."

"Vince, that's too much," Chris said, waving it off, "I'm sure that I can just hail a taxi or something, it would be a lot easier than you tracking down a limo or something."

"If you insist Chris, but here, let me give you the address," Vince said, jotting it down on a stray piece of paper. He handed it to Chris and the two men shook hands again.

In another part of the building, Stephanie was running down the hallway like she was on fire. She had her purse slung over one shoulder, her book-bag slung over the other shoulder and a few more books in her hand, the ones that didn't fit in her bag. She was trying to catch Chris before he left, just kind of casually run into him. She knew it was a silly idea, but she was a silly girl sometimes and she really wanted to just see him again and not while her parents were hanging around. She wanted to talk to him alone again. He was so different from the boys in high school. He was so much more mature and he had a career and had traveled and was very worldly to the sheltered Stephanie McMahon.

One of her books started to slip and she tried to balance herself to compensate for the book slipping, but it was too late. Her things went flying everywhere in the hallway and she went tumbling down with it. She looked around, hoping nobody had noticed and the hall, thankfully, nobody seemed to be around at the very moment. She got on her knees and started picking up her books and the papers that had gone flying from said books. She saw another pair of hands helping her and she looked up into the amused, blue eyes of Chris Jericho. She cursed under her breath. Maybe it just wasn't in the cards for her to make a good impression with this guy.

"You look like you could use a hand," he told her idly as he started gathering papers.

"Thanks Chris," she said, her face turning red, which only mortified her more. Stephanie had always been a blusher. Her face would start to burn and she knew she was as red as a tomato. Now was no exception.

"It's okay Stephanie, it happens to everyone," Chris said as he handed her the papers. "Why were you running anyways?"

She couldn't possibly tell him it was so she could see him, so she remained tight-lipped as she said quickly, "I wanted to see my Mom, but now I can't remember why. So I should probably go home, you know, because that's where I live."

"You live at your home!" he asked incredulously, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"I sound like a total dweeb don't I?" she asked softly.

"A dweeb, sure, but a total dweeb, nah, I've heard dweebier," he told her good-naturedly. "Why don't you let me walk these out to your car for you so you don't have a repeat performance of your…I'd say ballet routine, but that was anything but graceful."

"Thanks," she mumbled as she started to walk back out of the building, Chris following closely behind her. She was such a kid to him, she knew this, and she wished at that moment that she was Shane's age. She'd have given anything to just suddenly age five years and look more mature to him. But no, she had to go and be a clumsy clod right in front of him, and she had wanted to appear so smooth. She had even done her makeup in the car and put on her best earrings and her low-cut blouse. She was shameless.

"Hey, I just remembered, I'm going to your house for dinner, so you mind if I hitch a ride with you?" Chris asked. "Or would that seem weird for you?"

"What? Weird, no, sure, I mean, yeah, you can come," Stephanie said, her mind having been elsewhere, she had answered quickly and without thinking. "Of course you can have a ride."

"Awesome, so which one is yours," he said, looking around the parking lot. She pointed to a red, little convertible that was parked off to the side. His jaw dropped a little. That probably cost more than well…if he owned something nice, it would pale in comparison to that. "That's your ride?"

"Yeah, a sixteenth birthday present," she said, "Cliché right, getting the car."

"Um, sure," he said, wishing his parents had given him a car like that. "That's pretty radical right there. I mean, seriously, that car is straight up."

"Damn, I probably just came off as a snob huh?" Stephanie said, "I'm not really."

"I never said you were," he told her with a smile. "You can't help the family you're born into. But come on, let's roll. I think this is the first time I'm going to be riding in a car that is actually brand new, sad huh? You should see my car, it's a piece of shit."

"Oh, but now you can buy a new one right?" Stephanie asked as they made the way to her car. "I mean, you're working for my dad right?"

"Yeah, I don't know, it's a lot of money, I'm kind of nervous, I might go crazy and roll in it or something," Chris said as he placed her books in the back of her car. "Or you know, spend it all doing something stupid. Hell, if I had a girlfriend, I'd probably spend it all on her."

"My brother Shane would do that," Stephanie said. "He's been with his girlfriend Marissa since high school though, they're going to get married and everything."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked as they got into the car.

"Nope," she said. "I don't plan to meet my husband in high school. They're all really lame. I don't know, growing up in the business has made me weird or something. My dad says I always want to play dress-up like I'm an adult, but I'm not."

"Don't grow up too fast," he warned her. "You don't want to miss out on all the good times."

She shrugged, "I don't know, I just feel older than other people, but please don't tell anyone, I don't usually confide in anyone, not even my best friend, I mean, yeah, I tell her stuff, but I'm not like, really like, someone who talks about what I feel too much."

"I get it, you're a loner," Chris said with a smile as they drove to Stephanie's house. "Here, I'll tell you a secret so you don't feel bad."

"You will?" she asked, wondering if she was breaking through his defenses.

"Sure, tit for tat right?"

"Okay," she nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "What is it?"

"I'm afraid of ants, like terrified of them, if I see a couple on me, I will freak out," he told her and she glanced at him to see he had a lazy smile on his face. She laughed as she kept driving. He sure knew how to put people at ease, just another thing that she could add to the growing list of things she liked about him in her diary. They reached her house and it loomed above them. Chris stared up at it. "Wow…"

"It's not as scary as you'd think."

"Well, I think it's time you gave me the tour."


	4. Chapter 4

"And that's basically the house, see, not as intimidating as it seems."

"Thanks, it really is nice here. I can't imagine growing up here though," he said, looking around the immaculate living room and then at the big-screen television. "That thing is so rad."

"You want to watch, I don't think my parents are going to be home for a while and Chelsea is making dinner, so you know, we've got nothing to do, unless you want another tour or something, but I don't think you'd want that."

"Television would be awesome," he said as she led the way to the couch. They sat down next to each other and Stephanie grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels and finally settling on an episode of American Gladiators, which he laughed at. "You know, I could totally be a gladiator on this show."

"Oh yeah, and what would your name be?"

"I don't know, like Dynamite or something," Chris said with a chuckle. "That be fun to shoot tennis balls at guys as they try to shoot stuff at me."

"Oh that's my idea of a great time," Stephanie said impishly.

"So Stephanie McMahon, what's your story?" Chris asked as he turned to look at you. "I've met you a couple of times, and I know a little bit about you, but what makes you so different?"

Stephanie was taken aback that he would actually be interested in knowing about her. She was just a kid to him, she was a nobody, a peon. But suddenly it was like sunshine shooting through the clouds on a cloudy day. It was like birds chirping, and babies laughing, and she realized he was staring at her intently while she probably looked like a goober staring at him.

"Oh, um, I thought you wanted to watch television," she stammered.

"I did, and now I want to talk to you," Chris said. "Sue me, I'm starved for conversation. This is what happens when you travel so much, you only interact with the people you travel with, or the people you work with, and when you do meet someone new, they're usually gone within a few days. Then it's on to new people. But seeing as how I've met you a few times, I figure you're going to be around for a while."

"Oh," she smiled. "Well my story is that I'm Vince McMahon's daughter, I'm in high school, I get straight A's, and that's about it."

"Oh come on, that's all I get."

"That's all there is," Stephanie shrugged. "I mean, I love wrestling, does that count?"

"Well, I kind of figured you did, you know, you remind me of one of my friend's little sisters. She was pretty cool too."

"Oh, little sister?" she asked, trying to mask her disappointment. He saw her as some kind of little sister and that's probably all he would ever see her as. If she were older, he'd probably, or at least hopefully see her as something more. Maybe even someone beautiful.

"Yeah, totally cool and just fun to hang out with. It's nice to already have a friend in the company, I have a feeling you'll be the nicest one to me. Guys aren't that receptive to rookies," Chris chuckled, but she could detect a hint of nervousness. "You said you traveled with your dad occasionally."

"Yeah, on occasion," she nodded. "And with summer coming up you know, in several months, maybe I can do it even more, or something, I don't know exactly what I'm saying."

He laughed, "I got the gist of that. It'll be nice to see a friendly face. Your dad has been nothing but nice to me since he hired me, not that it's been a long time, but he has been nice to me. I'm looking forward to working here. It's been a dream of mine for a long time."

"Really?" she said, getting insight into the man before her.

"Yeah, when I was younger, I wanted to be either a wrestler or a bass player for a band. I used to have a band, and then I went into college as a journalism major, but I didn't want to be writing about things, I wanted to be doing things, and then I started training, and here I am now."

"That's really radical that you get to live out your dream," she told him.

"So what's your dream? You can tell me, think of me as like, your big brother, you said you missed your real brother right?"

She sighed as she thought about Shane, "Yeah, I do miss him, for the longest time, it was always…me and him against the world. He told that to me all the time. Whenever my parents couldn't make something at school, or when they were late, Shane would always be there, he'd always show up. I came first with him, and he'd tell me it was us against the world. Then he went off to college and I know that he's not that far away, but, now it's me against the world, and it doesn't really have that same kind of…I don't know, like ring to it."

"I knew there was more to you than your little story about being Miss Straight-A student," Chris told her with a smirk. "The girl does have feelings!"

She laughed and looked down, "I've never told anyone that before."

"Hey it's cool, and if you need a surrogate big brother, look no further. I always wanted a younger sibling, although I have to admit, I wanted a younger brother, but I can deal with having a younger sister."

She gave him a lopsided smile. She wanted to be anything but a little sister to Chris, so this presented a quandary in her mind. On the one hand, if she did accept herself as his "younger sister" of sorts, then she could see him often, maybe even persuade him to talk to her. She would love to have his number at her disposal. And the thought of having someone that she could see and speak to, and know that they were looking out for her was appealing. She missed her brother so much and dealing with her parents alone was always a bear. But then on the other hand, she thought Chris was really gorgeous and such a stud. She didn't want him to look at her like a sister. But ultimately, she would take what she could get.

"A surrogate big brother would be nice," she told him with a smile.

"Awesome," he told her, grabbing her and pulling her into a loose headlock. "So can I boss you around too?"

She laughed and pushed herself away from him. "No, the first thing you have to learn about being a big brother is you protect your younger sister, not torture them."

"So then is there a guy I can intimidate in your life?" Chris asked. "I could get used to this, following you at school like your bodyguard."

"It'd definitely make all the girls jealous," she told him. "There is this one guy, Ben, he's like in love with me, I don't really like him, but he means well. I don't know, I don't need to talk about it. But thanks for asking about it."

"Well, if you do need to talk. It's nice to have people you can talk to. I have this friend, he's a wrestler too, Lance, he's good to talk to, a little on the blunt side, and he's very serious, but he listens when you talk to him."

"So have you wrestled like all over?"

"Not _all over_, all over," he responded, "But I've got a few miles stacked up, which is why one of the first things I'm going to do with my money is buy myself a car, and a nicer place to live."

"Oh," she said, enraptured by what he was saying. She was just fascinated by this man in front of her. He was fascinating, he was different, and he actually talked to her. Most of the wrestlers saw her as Vince's daughter and treated her with respect, but not as someone they could talk to. Of course, they all had a lot of years on her, well, not all, but most of the big names did.

"Now I'm boring you," he said with a laugh.

"Stephanie!" came her mother's voice. "Where are you!"

"In the living room!" Stephanie yelled out for her mother. Linda showed up in the door a moment later and Chris stood up as he saw her. She gave him a warm smile, and he instantly liked her. He stepped forward and she reached her out to him.

"You must be Chris, nice to meet you, my husband has spoken glowingly about you," Linda told him.

"Thank you Mrs. McMahon for inviting me to your home."

"It's not a problem at all. I'm just going to check on dinner, it seems Stephanie has everything under control here," Linda told them. "Vince should be home shortly and then we can all sit down and eat."

"That sounds wonderful," Chris said as Linda walked out of the room. "Wow, your mom is super nice."

"Yeah," Stephanie said. "She's the only nice one around here, well, that's what everyone says anyways."

"You're nice too, from what I've seen," he said, grabbing her again by the waist and she almost wished he would stop doing that. Feeling his touch was sending shivers up and down her skin, and just as she was about to pull away, she heard her phone upstairs start to ring.

"Oh, that's my phone," Stephanie said, and Chris released her. "I should get that."

"I'll come with," he shrugged as she looked at him. She bit her lip and scurried upstairs. She had skipped her room on the tour because she was a little bit embarrassed to show him. It was fit for a Princess, and decked out in varying hues of pink, because she liked pink. He walked in and was almost assaulted by the color but said nothing as he sat in an armchair by her window seat.

"Hello?" Stephanie asked as she picked up her phone on her very own phone line that she had gotten for her fourteenth birthday.

"Stephanie, hi."

She groaned silently and rolled her eyes towards Chris. "Hi Ben, what do you want now?"

"I was just wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow night?"

"I'm going to be doing homework Ben, we have school tomorrow Ben," she said dully.

"Oh, I just thought it would be so radical if we could grab a slice, you know, at Antonio's Pizza. Just you and me and the pizza," he said cornily. She'd rather get a huge zit than go out with Ben.

"Ben, I have homework, I can't just skip that and go grab pizza with you."

Chris could sense her distress at the conversation. There was also the tiny fact that she had mentioned this Ben guy earlier as one of her problems. Apparently he had a huge crush on her and couldn't get the point when she was so blatantly making it. Chris stood up and went over to where Stephanie was sitting and sat next to her. He gestured for her to give him the phone, but she just looked at him in confusion.

"Give me the phone," he told her with an easy smile that she instantly got lost in.

"Okay," she said dreamily, then handed the phone over slowly.

Chris looked at her mischievously, then spoke, "Hey there, is this Ben?"

"Um, yeah, who's this?" the other guy asked.

"This is Stephanie's boyfriend," Chris said as Stephanie's eyes widened to epic proportions. "Look, I heard that you had a crush on her, but she's taken. I'd hate for you to keep calling here and asking her out. She's my girlfriend and I don't think I'd like it if she had some other guy going after her."

"I've been trying to get her on a date for a while now, who do you think you are horning in on my territory?" Ben asked.

"Wow, that's really harsh, look stay away from my girl or I'll have to come hurt you, simple as that, now don't call her anymore," Chris said, then reached over and hung up the phone. Stephanie looked at him, shaking her head in shock. "What?"

"You…said you were my boyfriend…"

"Well, you obviously wanted that guy off your back. I figured what better way than to make him think you were taken."

"Thank you, maybe he'll leave me alone," she said. She was still trying to absorb the fact that he had called her his girlfriend. She knew it meant nothing and he was just trying to help her, but she couldn't' help but love the way it just rolled off his tongue, "Stephanie's boyfriend," it just sounded so incredibly wonderful, and she was suddenly picturing her wedding to Chris. She'd be in a long gown, with lacy sleeves and a big veil. Mrs. Chris Irvine, she liked the sound of that.

"Well, that's what big brothers are for, to get the guys off their sister's backs," he said, punching her in the arm lightly.

"Oh yeah, it is." Yup, there was that big, fat needle to burst her proverbial bubble.

"Stephanie, Chris, dinner!" Linda called up. Chris stood up and turned to her, a gleam in his eye.

"Last one to the table is a rotten egg!" he yelled as he took off out of the room. She sighed and started to follow more slowly. He just saw her as a little-sister type, nothing more, nothing like how she wanted him to see her.

That would just have to do for now.


	5. Chapter 5

"Chris, I need your help."

"Stephanie, what could you possibly need me for?" Chris asked as they talked over the phone.

"Well, because you're brilliant," she said sarcastically, "Ben has not stopped hounding me. He doesn't believe that I have a boyfriend."

"You don't," he joked with her.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours, and how did you get my phone number anyways?" he asked. "I didn't give it to you."

"I got it from my dad," she dismissed. "He's not exactly the type to hide things. I got the sheet of paper that said which rooms and what the phone numbers are of all the wrestlers. He likes to give it to my mom when he's on the road, and…I'm rambling huh?"

"I've only known you for about a month and a half and yes, you are a rambler," he told her with a chuckle. "Look Stephanie, what do you want me to do? I can't just jump out there in my time travel machine and help you out. I'm on the road, I'm doing my thing."

"So what you're saying is you're willing to get me into a jam, but you're not willing to get me out of a jam?" she asked.

"Exactly, I knew you were a smart one," he told her playfully. "Look…I don't have to work this weekend, I suppose that I can come up there, make a short appearance with you, and then pop out again."

"Really?" she asked, trying to hide her giddiness. She and Chris has become fast friends after their initial pact of him acting like her older brother. While she was upset that's what he saw her as, she wasn't upset to have him as a friend. And being his friend was quite easy. Chris was nice and funny, and just an all-around, generally good guy. He was easy to talk to, and he always made sure that paid attention to you, it was just about what she could hope for, even though she would give that all up just to be able to kiss him. What would her friend's think if she was kissing twenty-two year old guys? Oh, they'd be so jealous.

"If this guy is really, really bugging you," he told her. "I don't want you to have to go through some crap because I told him something. I take full responsibility for putting you into this mess."

"Good," she said with a laugh. "I'm glad that you figured that out. He really does bug me Chris. He's annoying and he is constantly coming up to me in school and asking where this boyfriend of mine is, so I just told him that he's out of high school and is really busy."

"I am out of high school and I am really busy. In fact, I should be at the gym right now, but what am I doing, talking to a sixteen-year-old girl with boy troubles."

"You got me into the boy troubles!" she protested. "Besides, he's really gross Chris. He's totally lame and gross, and I want him out of my hair."

"I'm going to come there, what more do you want me to do Stephanie? Beat him up?"

"That'd be nice," she said, tapping her chin. "That would get him off my back."

"I'm not beating him up for you," he told her. "I may act like your big brother, but I don't even think the most overprotective big brother in the world would beat up a guy for doing nothing. Now if he lays a hand on you, that's a whole different story."

"Fine, fine…hey, did I tell you that my dad said that I could travel with the company all summer if I wanted, as long as I behaved. I'm sure he's going to give the wrestlers a lecture on staying the hell away from me, but he's actually letting me travel. He said that I'm old enough now and if I'm ever going to be in the business I might as well learn early how life on the road is going to be."

"Wow, the entire summer?" Chris asked.

"Well, not the entire summer, maybe I'll take some breaks, since I'm not working, but I love traveling with the company. I get to go shopping in tons of different places. It's rad!" she exclaimed.

"Only you would think of shopping…look Steph, I really have to go, if I don't go to the gym, I'm not going to be loose for my match tonight, and then I'll be really sore so…"

"You're cutting this short," she finished for him. "It's okay Chris, I'm just glad I had someone to talk to. We'll talk later?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we have to think of a plan," he joked before hanging up. As soon as Chris hung up the phone in his hotel room, it started ringing again. He groaned and picked it up on the second ring. "Stephanie, I told you--"

"It's me man."

"Oh hey Lance. I just thought you were Stephanie since I got off the phone with her like the second you called."

"Oh, you were talking to her again. I'm starting to think that I'm going to get replaced," Lance said, and if Lance was the type of guy who smirked, this would be where he smirked. But since he didn't, he was on the other line, stone-faced.

"So how's Germany?" Chris asked.

"It's nice, working too hard to really do anything," Lance said. "So you and Stephanie, you really are getting close."

"She's a cool kid."

"Remember that word Chris, kid," Lance said.

"What the hell are you trying to say Storm?" Chris asked. He wasn't quite sure what Lance was trying to say, but he didn't like the tone that Lance had taken with him. "Please don't tell me that you think I'm going to start sleeping with the girl or something."

"I didn't say that, why is that the first thing you thought of?" Lance said smugly.

"Because that sounded like what you were implying, and if you're implying that, then you're dead wrong. She's been like a little sister to me, not like whatever you're thinking of."

"I wasn't saying that," Lance told him. "I'm just saying that she's young."

"I know she's young."

"Yeah, and younger girls get attached, I'm just saying be careful," Lance said. "You don't know if her feelings for you are that of a little sister, or a potential girlfriend. I have sisters Chris, I know these things, the slightest thing and they're jumping all over it."

"She's sixteen man, she's my boss's daughter. There's no way in hell I'm even going near that," Chris told him. "And if she does have a crush on me, she'll get over it. I'm not going to go there man, she's a kid."

"I'm just warning you is all, that's it, I'm just warning you. See you on the flip side Jericho."

"Yeah, sure," Chris said, hanging up the phone again, and half-expecting it to ring for a third time. It didn't, and he went about his business for the rest of the day uninterrupted.

Stephanie was sitting on her front step waiting for Chris to show up. He had promised to be there today. She was going to show Ben that she did have a boyfriend, even if she didn't and it was just Chris. Although she'd take a fake date with Chris over any date with any other guy in the entire world. Finally, a rental car pulled up into the driveway and she stood up, grinning like a crazy woman.

"You're here!" she yelled as he got out of the car. He was assaulted immediately, her arms wrapping around him in a hug. He hugged her back affectionately.

"I told you I'd be here, what, you think I'm just going to leave you hanging?"

"No, but I've been sitting here like a dweeb," Stephanie said. "I'm glad you're here, now we can get this over with and then you can go home like I know you want to."

"It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, so yeah, I kind of want to go home. But since I did get you into this mess, it's really my one duty to make sure that you get out of this mess."

"But it's your mom's birthday," Stephanie said, feeling bad.

"I'm catching a flight out tonight, so don't worry about it," he told her, tussling her hair. "I'll be there in plenty of time to see my mom. It was really nice of your dad to give me the day off for it. I know that he's really more about the business. At least that's what you tell me."

"My dad likes you," Stephanie shrugged. "I like you too, but that's beside the point, I'm not the one that's employing you."

Chris thought back to what Lance had told him. Could Stephanie have a crush on him? He hoped not because he didn't want to crush the poor girl's spirit. But the fact remained that she was sixteen and he just wasn't going to go there. He didn't want to hurt her though because she was a genuinely good person. But looking at her now, she couldn't have a crush on him, it just wasn't possible.

"So come on," she whined, grabbing his hand. "We're going to the mall. Everyone hangs out at the mall, and tonight is no exception. If that jerk is going to be anywhere, it's going to be at the mall. Besides, it'll give me a chance to buy some more scrunchies."

"Oh man, why do I suddenly think that you just made this entire thing up so that you could get me to go with you and carry all of your bags."

"That's not it," Stephanie said, but she smirked. "Although now that I think about it, that's not a bad idea because I usually don't have anyone to carry all my things for me, and since you're there…"

He put her into a headlock, "You want me to what?"

"Nothing!" she said, "let go!" Chris laughed and let her go as they went to her car. "You want to drive?"

"Sure," he said as she tossed her keys.

Soon enough they were at the mall, and Chris, being the actor that he was, took Stephanie's hand in his as they walked into the huge shopping mall. He looked around, feeling the cold rush of the air conditioning as the doors opened. Stephanie pushed her ultra-fashionable sunglasses up to her head, letting them perch behind her massive bangs.

"Exciting," she said, nudging him in the side.

"For you maybe, but then you do get to have me on your arm for the afternoon, so why wouldn't it be exciting?" he said cockily.

"Act like that in the ring and my dad will absolutlely love you," she told him. "It's a secret that my dad has, he really likes it when you're confident."

"Are you telling me that for real, or are you messing with me, and when I act confident he pulls me aside and tells me to tone it down?" he asked her slyly.

"I'm hurt that you'd doubt me," she told him. "But it's true, that's why my dad really likes Shawn Michaels, because he's confident."

"So now you're going to help my career. Stephanie McMahon is going to make it her personal mission to make sure that I succeed."

"I don't have a job, what else am I going to do?" she teased.

"Oh, Stephanie McMahon can't work with us mere mortals," Chris teased back. "The little princess is way too good to lower herself down to our level."

"Yeah, that's right, which is why you're my new project," Stephanie giggled. "You're my friend, I want you to be a success, I mean, I hope that I'm your friend, I'm your friend right?"

"You're my friend," Chris said, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "If you didn't have me, who else would you get to pretend to be your boyfriend."

"I wouldn't need anyone to be my boyfriend if you hadn't snatched the phone from me. But you did, and now I'm in this whole mess because of you, and if I weren't in this mess, I could be doing my homework so I have the rest of the weekend free."

"Wow, nerd," Chris told her. She glared at him. Then she saw Ben walking around in front of her and she practically wanted to dive behind Chris and hide. And it wouldn't be too difficult either since he was so much bigger than she was. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Ben, that's Ben," she whispered harshly as Chris looked forward to a skinny, kind of short guy. He didn't look bad, he was your typical high school guy. Chris laughed and looked at her.

"That's the guy who's been bothering you?"

"Yes," she said softly. "He's annoying. You have to get him away from me."

"Well then go introduce me, and I'll act intimidating," Chris told her. Stephanie let Chris wrap his arm a little tighter around her shoulders and she wrapped her arm around his waist as they made their way over to the boy, who stopped and smiled at Stephanie, seemingly ignoring the man with her.

"Stephanie, hey, trying to find me I see."

"No, I just came here with my boyfriend," she asserted.

"Are you the little punk who's been trying to mess around with my girl?" Chris asked, his voice lowering.

"Uh…this is your boyfriend Stephanie?" Ben asked, his voice quivering a little bit. He hadn't expected Stephanie to really have a boyfriend, and since he never expected her to have a boyfriend in the first place, he couldn't have pictured a dude like this.

"Yes, this is my boyfriend Chris," Stephanie said, snuggling up to his side. She had to bite back the sigh when she got a sniff of his cologne. Wait, she was pretending to be his girlfriend, she didn't have to bite it back. She sighed out right, letting herself fall into her role. If this was the closest she would ever get to Chris Jericho, she was just going to have to take advantage of it to its fullest. She wondered what he would do if she kissed him right now.

"Yeah, her boyfriend," Chris said, "and all I've been hearing is how some guy has been trying to hit on her. Look, I don't want any other guy bothering my girlfriend." He looked at Stephanie and smiled, and she could see the laughter in his eyes and it made her want to laugh too.

"What he said," she added.

"So I suggest that you leave my girlfriend alone, do you hear me?"

"Yes…yes," Ben said nervously.

"Good, then we have an understanding."

"We do," Ben said, scurrying away. Stephanie hugged Chris tightly.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Stephanie said in delight. He hugged her back, and wondered again.

Could she have a crush on him?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. The story is definitely going to pick up now, and I hope that you all like where it's going.

**I have some references in the chapter to wrestlers and shows from 1992, if you don't know what is being talked about, and want to know, you can IM me at: DCFanatic4ever, and I'll gladly explain. :)**

* * *

"The last bit of business I have to talk about is about my daughter, Stephanie. She will be traveling with the company for the next month and a half, and I want everyone to treat her with respect." 

The boys murmured their acquiescence, even though they could really care less that Stephanie was traveling with them. She had been traveling with them on-and-off for some time now and every single time she came, Vince would warn them to treat her with respect, and if he ever caught them doing anything with his daughter, he would fire them on the spot. Like any of the guys there would actually go for a sixteen-year-old when they had ring rats swarming them everywhere.

Stephanie sat doodling on some paper in her father's office. He was at the meeting with the wrestlers, and she wasn't allowed. And she knew why she wasn't allowed too, because her father was talking about her, and the fact that she was here. Brian Clark, one of her father's wrestlers, had told her once that he had been warned not to treat her badly or anything like that. She hadn't complained to her father because he would probably revoke her right to come travel with him, so she just let him warn the wrestlers and be done with it.

Her father walked back inside and saw her at his desk, "What are you doing, Stephanie?"

"Nothing Daddy," she told him, crumpling up the paper. "I was just waiting for you to get done with your meeting? Did you have a good meeting?"

"Yes, it was very productive," he said distractedly, going through his briefcase. "Why don't you go help wardrobe or something?"

Stephanie wouldn't admit it right then, but she was a little upset by the comment. She didn't want her father to think of her as only capable of doing makeup or wardrobe. She wanted to be so much more, but her dreams would have to wait. Stephanie was a smart student and she pulled really good grades, but her father still saw her as the little girl with the ugly bowl cut who trailed after him, and although she was still trailing after him in a way, she was so much more than a little girl.

"I was actually thinking I could go sit in the truck and see how the whole production thing works," she told her father.

"Why do you want to go in there, it'll just bore you."

"I don't think it will," Stephanie told him. "I promise not to interfere or anything, Daddy, I just want to see how you do things. Like how you tape things for Prime Time Wrestling, I want to just see."

"Well, if you want to," Vince shrugged. "Now why don't you go find something to do right now while I get some work done before I have to go to the tapings for my own show. And why don't you go out into the arena and watch the show and be sure to lead any cheering or booing that I need done."

"Daddy," Stephanie groaned as she walked out into the hallway. The television tapings were always a fun time. Her father was working on some big project for next year, something about a live show with storylines and stuff included instead of the format it was now, where they taped shows and then played them when they wanted. She thought all of that was exciting, but her father would never discuss it with her. Someday, maybe she'd get the chance to show her father that she was just as good as anyone here.

"Well, if it isn't Stephanie McMahon, traveling with the company like she always wanted.

She turned and saw Chris, rushing to him and hugging him tightly. "Hey Chris, do you have a match tonight?"

"Yeah, I do, against Chris Chavis, you know, Tatanka, I get to be part of his winning streak, which means I'm going to get a big, fat L in the loser column."

"Oh, I don't think you're a loser," she told him sincerely and he smiled and shook his head. He and Stephanie had gotten pretty close since he had entered the company and any thoughts and fears that she had a crush on him had disappeared. She was a kid, and even if she did have a crush, she had to know that she could never act on it, and he would never want to be with her because she was way too young for him.

"Well thanks, but I guess it's a trial by fire thing. I have to lose a lot to start winning," Chris shrugged. "It's a good learning experience anyways, even if I do have to be some guys jobber."

"I could try and talk to my--"

"No," he told her. "When I first started wrestling, I told myself that I wanted to earn everything that I got around here, and befriending you is good because I like having a friend around here. It's tough to break into some of these guy's good graces."

"Have you been getting along with anyone?"

"Yeah, there's some guys around that I've gotten acquainted with, um, Shawn Michaels, he prefers to go by Shawn though, which I find a little weird since his name is Mike, Brian Clark is cool, and Owen and Bret Hart, I mean, come on, they're like legends to me, and you know I was in the Dungeon with Stu, and you know, it's totally radical," Chris said and he sounded like such a little boy in that moment that she had to giggle. "Hey, are you laughing at me?"

"No," she said, but she couldn't stop giggling. "I'm sorry, but you just sounded so excited."

"Well I haven't been around them all my life like you have," Chris said, poking her in the side.

"Oh, well then," she started. "When is your match anyways?"

"Why? You want to hang out with me?" he asked.

"I don't know, I was going to go watch them do all the taping and stuff for the show when they make it. I think it's all really neat," she told him. "I think that might be where I want to be when I grow up. I want to do something where I make sure the show goes well. My dad thinks I'm only interested in wardrobe."

"You do like clothes," he pointed out.

"Not spandex and fringe!" she protested. "I mean, clothes are nice, smelly, gross, ugly wrestling clothes, I don't want to even touch that."

"Snob," he teased and she frowned. He thought he might've actually offended her because he knew that she didn't take too kindly to being made fun of in that way. She wasn't a snob by any means. He took her into his arms and gave her a big bear hug, ruffling her hair a little bit. She tried to push him away.

"Stop Chris," she tried to say, but it just got muffled against his chest. His t-shirt smelled clean and just very…Chris. She had pretty much given up on her crush for him, because she knew it would go nowhere. She would just take what she could get and hope that someday he would see her as more than just a little girl he liked to tease like a little sister.

"Okay, okay, okay," Chris said, pulling away from her. Stephanie was about to say something when she looked over his shoulder and her eyes went wide. Chris stared at her for a moment, but before he could open his mouth to ask if she was okay, she was pushing past him.

"Shane," she whispered as she saw her brother walking towards her. She ran to him, "Shane!"

She threw herself into her brother's arms. She hadn't seen him in months and she had missed him so much. He was her big brother and he closest confidant. He hugged his little sister back, briefly looking at the man who had been hugging her just a few moments before. He knew him from his father talking about him, but he had never had the privilege to see Chris Jericho in person. They looked about the same age, which made him wary about this guy being around his little sister.

"Hey Miss Princess," he said in that sarcastic way of his.

"Don't call me that," she whined as she kept hugging her brother. "I have seen you in such a long time, I missed you."

"I missed you too Missy," he said to her. "Staying out of trouble?"

"Nope," she said with a smile.

"Spoken like a McMahon," he said as he wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders.

"What are you doing here?"

"What? You can travel with Dad, but I can't travel with him occasionally? I wasn't aware that there was a limit to how many McMahons could be at one show," Shane told her.

"You never need an excuse," she said as they kept walking down the hallway. She remembered Chris was still standing there and led her brother over to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, Shane, this is Chris Irvine, Chris, this is my brother Shane."

"I could see the resemblance," Chris said, sticking his hand out for Shane to shake, which he did moments later. "Nice to meet you, man."

"Nice to meet you too, I've heard a lot about you from my dad, he thinks that you're really something special," Shane nodded to him. "It's nice to finally get to meet you."

"Chris is really good," Stephanie gushed to her big brother, as if she, herself, was looking for some sort of praise, and maybe she was. Maybe she wanted someone in the family to recognize that she knew just as much about wrestling as the rest of them. "He's really great in the ring."

"Yeah?" Shane asked. "Well, we'll have to see, won't we, you can watch with me."

"I'm actually going to the truck to watch them direct and everything, but later, okay?" she said, excitedly. "But I'll catch up with you later, I promise, we have to eat dinner together, and then I can tell you about school and everything. I got an A on my history essay with the topic you told me to use, you should read it, I think it was like my best work ever! It was so rad!"

"Okay," Shane said, laughing at his sister's enthusiasm for…well, everything.

Chris felt a strange feeling in his stomach at this exchange. He didn't really identify it, but it felt like jealousy. Was he jealous that her real big brother was here and she was so incredibly happy about it? Chris was friendly with a lot of guys here, but Stephanie was someone he could talk to who wasn't directly involved in wrestling and it helped to have that outsider's opinion, someone he could rant to, but he had to remind himself that she wasn't his little sister, she was someone else's little sister, and she obviously loved Shane a lot.

"Bye Chris," she said waving. "I'll come see you after you become a loser."

Chris smiled at that, "Bye Steph."

Shane turned to Chris after Stephanie had left and obviously eye-balled the man in front of him. "She's sixteen you know."

"I'm well aware of her age," Chris said evenly, expecting this might be coming. "I know that she's sixteen and I don't know what you're thinking, but I do know she's sixteen."

"She's naïve."

"No, she's not," Chris argued. "She's not at all."

"What are you talking about?" Shane asked, not liking that this guy wasn't agreeing with him.

"Your sister is really smart, and if I know anything about her, and I've gotten to know a lot about her since I came here, she wants your approval. She wants you to look at her like she's your equal and not a little kid," Chris said. He had picked up on the vibe she was sending when she had said he was good in the ring. She wanted to discuss matches with him, show off her in-ring knowledge.

"I know she's not a little kid."

"She wants to make you proud," Chris said. "She's a good person, Shane. And I know how young she is, but she's certainly not naïve."

"What are you doing hanging around her then?" Shane asked, wondering what this blond guy's intentions were. Stephanie could easily be taken advantage of, and he would not let his sister be taken advantage of.

"I didn't know anyone when I joined, and she was there, being friendly. She needed a big brother because you were in college, and I needed someone to talk to because I'm in a new place and this is my first big break, and I didn't know anyone. Your sister is really nice, and that's it, I see her like a little sister, and that's it."

Shane suddenly saw Chris in a new light because he did seem to know what Stephanie was about, and hearing that Stephanie needed a surrogate big brother because he wasn't around, well, it didn't feel too good for her to have to resort to that. He had always been the big brother protecting her, but now it seemed she had someone else doing that as well. But if Chris could protect her when he wasn't around, then he was glad Chris was there.

Shane stuck his hand out again. "Well, now you know someone else in the new place."

Chris shook his hand, "Thanks for not immediately going in for the kill."

"She's just my little sister," Shane shrugged. "Speaking of, I'm going to make sure she does stay out of trouble, sometimes she thinks that she can help and she really can't. But thanks for watching out for her."

"She's cool," Chris nodded. Shane nodded back and wandered off, leaving Chris by himself again. He was glad that Stephanie was so happy, but he kind of wished that he was the sole guy protecting her still. She had gotten under his skin in the short time he had known her, and she was always so bright and cheerful that it made him the same way.

But little did Chris know that he was going to have to play the big brother card again soon. There was someone in the company who hadn't heeded Vince's warning and was planning to take advantage of Stephanie. She was old enough now where she was probably getting into boys and a little flirtation would have her suggesting things to her father. That was the main plan, and he was going to go through with it.

Things were going to change.


	7. Chapter 7

"So then I flew off the jungle gym and landed in a bed of roses."

"No!" Stephanie said, giggling madly as she covered her mouth. Chris was telling her different stories and probably trying to make soda shoot out of her nose. "Did you get hurt?"

"Not badly, but I had tons of thorns in my arms that I had to pick out individually. The stupid things you do while you're drunk, and that's a warning to you, Steph, don't get stinking drunk."

"One time, I had to help Shane past my parents when he was in high school, and you try lugging a guy who weighs like twice as much as you do upstairs, I think I was dragging him at one point."

"Shut up, it was not that bad," Shane said as he took a swig of his soda. "I wasn't that drunk, Chris, she's just making it sound like I was because she was pissed at having to help me."

"You were so!" she protested. "You are such a liar, Shane. I was dragging your butt upstairs because you didn't want Mom or Dad to think that you were drunk. Luckily you didn't puke your guts out because I couldn't have hidden that from them."

Chris watched Stephanie and Shane go back and forth. Since Shane had decided to spend his own summer traveling around with the company, he and Chris were forced to spend a lot of time together because they both liked to spend time with Stephanie. With their forced together time, the two of them had become friends and had found a lot in common with each other. Chris found it good that he had some real, genuine friends here. He didn't want to be the loner who had to sit by himself.

No, instead of being that loner, he was at a table with Shane and Stephanie in the catering room, laughing it up over stupid childhood stories. As three of the youngest people there, it was only natural that they migrate to one another. Everyone else had families, or girlfriends, or established lives, and they…well, their lives were spontaneous and were just building, and Stephanie, well, Stephanie was still a kid in many senses, but found that she liked to be thought of more as an adult.

"You know though, the whole jungle gym thing to gain balance and walk on the ropes, not too bad an idea," Shane shrugged.

"No, don't even think about it," Stephanie told him. She turned to Chris, "Don't give him any ideas, he totally like will do anything, he's such a daredevil."

"She's bogus," Shane said. "But I think making your skills sharper is a good thing, it'll only get you farther in this business."

"Chris is great though," Stephanie said, beaming at Chris as she told him that. "He's great in the ring, I see a lot of potential in you, Chris. I think you're going to be the WWF champion. You're so totally going to be on the top one day."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Steph, but let's face it, right now I'm nothing more than a glorified jobber. Your dad brings me in to wrestle the big names so that they look good and I look…well, that I make them look good. Nobody even knows who I am."

"I know who you are," Stephanie told him. He smiled at her and she had to smile back. This didn't go unnoticed by Shane. He had seen the way that Stephanie looked at Chris, and from knowing about Stephanie for the past…all her life, he knew when she liked someone. She was definitely googly-eyed over Chris. He had suspected it when he first met Chris, but after hanging out with them for the past month, he saw it as clear as day.

"I know too."

"And counting my friends and parents, that's about fifty people that know me," Chris said. "I'm so lucky. I've got fifty people on my side."

"You act like that's so bad," Stephanie said. "But Chris, I know that you're going to go places. Maybe when I'm older, I can assure that you go places and I'll be the one to make sure that you are going to be at the very top, with the belt."

"Thanks Steph, but I'd rather get where I'm going on my own," Chris told her.

"You know, it's not such a bad thing," Shane told him. "Everyone around here plays politics, it's just how it is. You have to learn to play the game if you want to go far."

"I'm not into that shit," Chris said. "At least not now. I'm fine with where I'm at. I'm learning and that's the best thing for me. I'm not _so _vain that I think I'm going to get to the top immediately, people work their way up. If I can learn to be great, it'll happen."

"Cheeseball," Stephanie said, flinging a French fry at him.

"Shut your trap," Chris said, taking the French fry she had thrown at him and throwing it back at her. "So _sorry_ if I want to actually earn my place around here and not use you guys to do it."

"You should be sorry," Stephanie told him, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Oh real mature, Steph," Shane said with a laugh.

"I don't have to be mature, I'm only sixteen remember, I'm just a kid, or at least that's what everyone around here tells me. Some of the wrestlers treat me like I'm seven or something, and I'm not seven."

"No, you're not seven, though you do act like it sometimes," Chris said.

"At least you don't pinch my cheeks, when Freddie was here a couple weeks ago, he pinched my cheeks!" Stephanie pouted, folding her arms. "I am nearly a grown-up, you know, people seem to forget that."

"You won't let _us_ forget that," Shane joked with her, and she folded her arms and sulked.

"You've done it now, man, she's going to do something to you in your sleep, probably put shaving cream over your face, or in your hands or something," Chris told him.

"I would not!"

"Isn't that what little kids do?" Chris teased.

"If you guys are going to be mean, I'm so going to get out of here and then you'll be all alone and you'll miss me," she said sassily, and a little snottily.

"Get a load of who thinks highly of themselves," Shane said, throwing a thumb in his sister's direction.

"You're a buttface, Shane McMahon," Stephanie scoffed, rolling her eyes and tossing her hair over her shoulder, causing her large hoop earrings to clink with the smaller hoops inside. "You're just mad because I spilled all your secrets."

"Oh, you did not, and I don't care if Chris knows, what's he going to do, tell Daddy on me?" Shane responded, making a face.

"Well, you did say that I should get into politics, I'm sure your dad would let me get a push if I was his mole with the two of you. I think he'd like to be informed about these little things the both of you have done."

"You wouldn't dare," Stephanie told him.

"Try me," he winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I have to go talk to Daddy anyways; he wanted to see me about something. I bet its over the way I dress, like he should have any say in that, last week, he told me my skirt was too short and it reached my knees, can you believe that, I was totally like, 'get a life, Daddy, you need to take a total chill pill.' If he picked out my clothes, they'd be so grody."

"Yeah, God forbid you lose some fashion points," Shane said. Stephanie stuck up her middle finger at him and Shane placed his hand over his heart. "Whoa dude, that's totally heinous right there."

"Oh, don't have a cow," Stephanie said as she wandered away. Chris watched after her, making sure she left the room okay, not that she couldn't walk or anything, but…he just wanted to see her safely exit was all. Shane and Chris were silent for a moment, picking at their food in front of them while taking intermittent sips of their soda.

"You know, she acts like she doesn't have a lot of say around here, but my dad values her opinion more than he does mine," Shane told him idly.

Chris raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah, my dad thinks she's a natural. He'd probably hand her the company if I wasn't around. He thinks that she's got a good head on her shoulders and that she knows what she's talking about when it comes to wrestling. It's the only reason he lets her come on the road."

"He's afraid some guy is going to take advantage of her, right?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it, but knowing my dad, he wants to know what she thinks about things more than he wants to protect his daughter's innocence."

"Nice dad," Chris muttered under his breath.

"You like having her around though," Shane pointed out, which was rather obvious.

"Yeah, I do, she's a rad chick," Chris told Shane.

"Yeah, so you know, when it happens, let her down gently, okay? She may seem really tough, and she is, but deep down, she's a lot more sensitive than you'd think."

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"She likes you…what, you're telling me you couldn't tell?"

Chris scoffed. Everyone kept telling him that Stephanie liked him, and while it was a little flattering, he really didn't think that was the case. They were friends, he was seven years older than her; seven years was a lot when it meant that one of them was still a teenager.

"I think you're wrong, man."

"Dude, I've known my sister for a lot longer than you have, and I know when she has a crush. It's cool, I'm okay with that. It's fine that she likes you, better you than some sleaze bucket or something. I just want you to let her down easy, you know, don't break her heart."

"What, you think I'm going to start dating her?"

"I know that she's young, but you know, she's not _that_ young."

"Yes, yes she is," Chris said to his friend, his eyes bugging out a little. "It'd be one thing if I were her age, but I'm seven years older than her. That's more than a little bit creepy right there. I'm not going to put designs on a sixteen-year-old; you can't tell me you would date a sixteen-year-old."

"I dated a seventeen-year-old when I was nineteen," Shane told him.

"That's way different," Chris responded. "This is entirely different. I like your sister, Shane, but she's too young for me. And her liking me means nothing. So she likes me, so what? I'm not going to pursue that, and I don't think she would either. I mean, she'd have to know I'm not interested right?"

"I don't know, Stephanie is pretty determined when she wants to be," Shane said, "which is why I wanted you to let her down easily, she is capable of getting her heart broken. I like you Chris, I wouldn't even object if you did go out with her because at least I'd know she was taken care of."

"Okay, now that's just grody," Chris shuddered. "I just want to be friends with her, she's too young."

Stephanie left her father's office, rolling her eyes at her very lame father. He had wanted her opinion on someone's ring attire, which of course he would want to know from her. She was just a little bit insulted that the only thing she was good for was to give her father fashion advice. When she tried to tell him about the actual wrestling, he shushed her and pushed her out of the room. She sighed and looked both ways, wondering if she should go see if Chris and Shane were still in catering.

"Stephanie, wait up!"

She looked behind her and saw Brian Clark waving her down. "Hey Brian, what's happening?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you thought this outfit looked alright," he said, moving his hands up and down his body, wondering if she was going to take the opportunity to check him out. Instead, she groaned out of frustration and started to stalk off. He followed quickly. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Is that all I look like to you? Someone who goes shopping at the mall and teases her hair up all big and makes her bangs all nice and fluffy so that I look good? Am I just a walking fashion statement?" she asked angrily. "Because apparently that's all anyone sees me as."

"Whoa, Steph, I'm sorry," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning down so they were eye-to-eye. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "My dad just doesn't see me as someone who could actually know a thing about wrestling even though I've been watching since I was like, in diapers. He just sees me as someone who knows how to color-coordinate."

"Well, that's his loss then," he told her, brushing some of her bangs out of her face. "You're a lot more than that."

She gave him a grateful smile, "Do you really think so?"

"Of course, you're a McMahon, I think you all know what you're doing. But you shouldn't doubt yourself."

"Thanks Brian," Stephanie said, smiling shyly at him. "After talking with my dad, I needed to hear that because he was being so bogus about everything."

"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me, right?"

"Right."

She walked away from him after saying her goodbyes, and missed the smirk that came over his face. Stephanie was so innocent and so willing to trust people. Maybe that's why her father was so protective of her. She was just a kid and she didn't know not to trust the wrestlers that wanted to use her to get to the top.

It was all going to be too easy.


	8. Chapter 8

Chris didn't like the way that Brian Clark acted around Stephanie. He couldn't place his finger exactly why, but he just didn't like it. He admitted to himself that it might be a little bit of jealousy, since it seemed that Brian was always hanging around her, but he thought it was more than that. He had liked Brian at first, but over the past few weeks, he had seemed to get a little bit creepier. It was a subtle change, almost imperceptible, but it was there.

"Chris, are you listening to me?" Stephanie asked, tugging at his arm.

Chris had been in a zone on the treadmill, thinking about this thing with Stephanie that he hadn't noticed she was off her own treadmill and leaning on the front of his, grinning up at him innocently. That was a word that resonated with Chris. Stephanie was a completely innocent girl, and if people thought he was going to be the one to corrupt her, they were really wrong. Chris turned the speed down to a slight jog as he looked at Stephanie.

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, did you say something?"

"No, Chris, I didn't, that's just why I asked if you were listening to me, because I didn't have anything to say to you."

"Sorry," he laughed. "Did you need something?"

"No, I'm just bored," she told him, leaning her head on her hand. "All I was doing was running. I don't know how you can do this for an hour. It's so boring."

"Well, if I want to keep myself in top form, this is what I have to do," he explained gently. "I want to get in your dad's good favor, because then, maybe, just maybe he'll actually give me a push and I might win a match."

"You won your last match," she pointed out.

"A non-televised match, where it didn't really matter. I know right now that my place is to get better through experience, but I can't help that I want to be the best there is, right? I just want to show the world, you know?"

"I believe in you," she told him sincerely.

"I think you may be my number one fan behind my mother, actually," he told her, and she beamed at that. "I'm glad you're around. I might've wanted to quit if it weren't for you constantly pushing me and making me think I'm the best."

"Well, then I'm glad I'm here too, and just saying, because I think you're totally bitching, but you _are _the best, and one day, you're going to be the WWF champion, and you're totally going to have to give me all the credit for believing in you," she told him haughtily and he rolled his eyes playfully and reached out to tousle her hair. "Hey, don't do that, it took me forever to braid my hair this morning. How much longer are you going to be?"

"A while, why?"

"I wanted to go have lunch, do you think that you'd be up for that?" she asked. "I think that I hear my stomach growling, and I need to get something into it."

"Well, I'm going to be here for a while, if you want to hang out here, you can, or you can just go back to your room and I'll pick you up," Chris propositioned. "Or you can just go eat by yourself since your stomach is growling and all."

"Eww, eating by myself, talk about a total loser-rama. I would never do that."

"Oh, so the Princess is too good to eat by herself," Chris smirked. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I can eat by myself," she protested. "I just like to eat with you."

Chris smiled at her and reached out to tousle her hair again. She gave him a look of warning and he put his hand closer to her head, she moved away a little and he moved with her, and she was giving him a dirty look. They playfully went back and forth for a few moments, before Chris just grabbed the back of her braid and pulled her hair.

"What, are you like a three-year-old or something?"

"Yes," he told her. "I am a three-year-old. But anyways, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to wait up in my room for you, just come get me when you're done, but I take no responsibility if I start eating the furniture, got it?"

"Got it," he told her.

She sent him one last smile before getting off the front of his treadmill and leaving the in-hotel gym. She slung her towel over her shoulder, hoping that she didn't look all grody or anything, because there could be really dope guys hanging around the hotel, and she didn't want to look all gross around them. Oh, and she probably smelled too, she should kick Chris now for making her work out with him. Okay, so he hadn't exactly kidnapped her and taken her to the gym. He had asked her last night, and she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to be around him. And when he had taken his shirt off and…well, now she was getting ideas in her head.

"Stephanie, hold up!"

Stephanie looked behind her and saw Brian jogging towards her. She smiled politely at him and stood, waiting for him to catch up to her. "Hey, Brian."

"Hey," he smiled, trying to look friendly, which he wanted to be with her. "Where are you headed off to?"

"I was just at the gym, so I smell and I'm all sweaty and gross, so I'm going to go up to my room and take a shower and freshen up," she told him. "Where are you headed off to?" she asked, repeating his earlier question.

"Oh, nowhere, I didn't have anything to do today. Hey, what are you doing right now, after your shower and getting freshened up, I mean."

"I was going to have lunch with someone," she told him.

Brian figured it was Chris Irvine. He noticed that Stephanie spent most of her time with him. He wondered if Chris had the same intentions that he did. Stephanie was really impressionable and trusting, and maybe he had underestimated Irvine. But if Irvine was going to go after her too, well, he'd just have to step up his game. If he were to get Stephanie's influence, he had no doubt she would tell her father to push him, and that's what he wanted, to be at the top of the company.

"Who?" he said, trying to sound curious rather than suspicious.

"Chris," she answered. "So I should really go, but it was really nice talking to you, I'm sure I'll see you at the show tomorrow."

"Wait, why go out with him, he's not even here right now," he said. "I could go up to your room with you and just wait for you to get ready and I'll take you to lunch, I'm here right now, so you wouldn't really have to wait for him."

Stephanie gave him a little look, thinking it strange that he wanted to take her to lunch. What she found even stranger was his offer to go upstairs and wait in her room while she got ready. That would include having him in her room while she showered, and that didn't settle right with her. She didn't want to be naked in one part of her room while a guy older than her brother would also be in it.

"I don't think so…"

"Why not?" he inquired. "It sounds like a great plan."

"It's just, I already had plans and everything, and I wouldn't feel right ditching Chris and not even telling him," she said, trying to get out of this with as little incident as possible. "I mean, maybe some other time or something, but I hate breaking plans."

"So why don't you let me take you out to dinner then, how's that, you don't have plans with Chris then, do you?"

"I eat dinners with my dad and brother, and my mom is actually here, so family dinner," she laughed, nervously, "I'm really sorry Brian, I just don't have the time today."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to lunch?" he asked again, putting on a charming smile. She smiled at him, feeling a little trapped right now. Not only was he trying to trap her into lunch, but he had somehow gotten closer and closer to her without her noticing and she almost had her back up against the wall as she hand mostly unconsciously been taking steps back.

"Yeah, I'm sure, it's like, I just hate breaking plans, but like, totally, for sure we'll do something sometime, does that sound okay to you?"

"I just thought that I'd like to take you out today."

"Hey, what's happening?" a male voice said, interrupting their awkward conversation. Stephanie looked to her right and saw Chris walking up, and despite herself, she was relieved.

Chris had decided to cut his workout short because Stephanie had seemed really famished, and he hated that she was waiting around for him. He was going to go up to her room and sit outside it if she was in the shower, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. He had been surprised to see her still in the lobby. He watched from afar as Brian Clark talked to her, and crowded her into the corner. It was then that he knew he had to step in because Stephanie's demeanor had changed from easy-going to slightly scared.

"Chris!" Stephanie said gratefully. "I was just talking to Brian, I haven't had a chance to go and shower."

"Well, I haven't showered either, so we can both go do that…not together or anything," he winked. "And then we'll head on out to lunch."

"Sounds great," she said, pushing away from Brian as she went and linked arms with Chris, feeling safer just being near him. "I'll let you walk me up to my room."

"And I would love nothing more than to do that, bye dude," Chris said, nodding to Brian, who was silently fuming. Stephanie and Chris walked to the elevators, and he pushed the button for her floor, and let the doors close in front of him before turning to her. "Was he bugging you?"

"A little, but it's not a big deal, don't go all psycho on him or anything," Stephanie shrugged. "He just really wanted to take me out to lunch."

"He looked like he was cornering you," Chris observed.

"I know, but whatever, it's like, totally not even worth thinking about, you came and you saved me, Ferris Bueller, you're my hero," she said, imitating the movie. "So let's just go and get ready and I'll let you pay for me."

"Hey, you have way more money than I do, that's totally bogus if you don't pay for lunch."

"But you're the guy!" she whined.

"I'm not your boyfriend though," he told her. "If you were my girlfriend, then maybe I would pay for you, maybe…"

"We both know you're going to insist that you pay," Stephanie said. "It's the good guy in you, Chris, you're that word, um…the old word, from like the Middle Ages, what is that word…oh, chivalrous, you're totally chivalrous."

"Had to dig deep for that one, huh?" he said as they got off on her floor. "Okay, I'm going to leave you here, I think you can make it to your room, right?"

"Right," she nodded as the doors closed on him. He knew Stephanie took a while to get ready so he knew that he had time to do what he thought needed to be done. He pressed the button for the lobby and waited for the elevator to go back down to the bottom. He waited and tapped his heel as the numbers descended until he saw the doors open in front of him. He looked around the lobby, hoping to see Brian, and luckily for him, he was still hanging around. He walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Leave her alone, okay?" Chris said, unsaid threats in his voice.

"What?"

"Stephanie, leave her alone, I mean, come on, anyone can see what you're trying to do."

"You mean, exactly what you're trying to do."

"Oh," he scoffed, "and just what am I trying to do?"

"You're trying to get on her good side, maybe even in her pants, so that you can get what you want. You're tired of being a jobber around here, and you think that if you get on her good side, she'll go running to Daddy, who just happens to be the owner, and suddenly, you're main-eventing."

Chris snorted in disbelief. "Look, I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not her friend because it suits me professionally. I was offered a contract before I even met her. She's my friend, like my little sister, and I'm not going to sit back and let someone like you take advantage of her."

"So you'll just do it yourself…"

"I don't want anything from Stephanie and I definitely don't want to get in her pants, so just get that out of your head. But I don't want to see you hanging around her. She doesn't want you bugging her."

"And now you're her spokesperson."

"No, I'm her friend, but this is your warning, don't bug her, and don't cross me if you do," Chris said, this time voicing his threats. He turned around and wandered back to the elevators so that he could get a shower in and then go see Stephanie. He didn't know when he had gotten so fiercely protective of Stephanie, but it felt like second nature to him. He wanted to protect her, make sure that nobody took advantage of her. It just felt right to him, to do that for her, to be rewarded with her smile. It was possible that he was getting too deep, too familiar with her in his life.

Except he had no idea how familiar he really was.


	9. Chapter 9

Summer came and went, and soon it was fall Stephanie had started school back up again, her senior year. Her birthday was also in a couple of days, and she was excited to be turning seventeen. She hated that couldn't travel with the company anymore because she missed being with Chris. Chris, on the other hand, was a little bit relieved. For the past couple of months, Chris had made sure that wherever Stephanie was, he was going to be there as well. He barely let her out of her sight, and the main reason for that was Brian.

Chris didn't like the way he looked at Stephanie, and he knew that Stephanie was too trusting to see it for herself, and if he told her, she would brush it off. That was just the way that Stephanie was. She didn't really like to see the ugly in the world, so Chris was forced to see it for her, and take care of it for her, and he intended to do that until she was safely back at home. So he kept his attentions on her any time she was at the show or at the hotel, engaging her in different activities like sight-seeing or going to the gym. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight if he could help it.

It had a counter-effect though, because the more he got to know Stephanie, spending as much time with her as he did, he couldn't help but start to like her a little bit more than he probably should. He still wasn't going to go after her or something like that, he knew there were lines that had to be kept, taboos he didn't want to breach, but still, it was hard spending so much time with her and not love her personality, or the little quirks that she had. It was hard not to see her as wise beyond her years, and far more mature than most people that he knew.

He knew that he shouldn't be feeling these kinds of things, but he just couldn't help it. Sure, he was around a lot of ring rats, couldn't even get away from them when he was out at a club or a bar or something, but they just didn't engage him. Yeah, he was twenty-two years old, in his freaking prime, but they didn't captivate him the same way that a…sixteen year old girl was captivating him. The thought of that made him a little sick to his stomach. He shouldn't be developing feelings for a girl who was still a year out of high school. She hadn't even started her senior year, although, she _was_ starting it soon, though that did little to squelch the feeling that he was doing something very wrong.

Her birthday had been the day before yesterday and as a gift, her father had told her that she could come with the company down to Florida, and spend the weekend down here. She was hesitant at first because she wanted to throw a party, a blow-out really, at her parent's house. Since her mother was down here with her father, and Shane was at college, she would've had the house pretty much to herself and she would've thrown a great party. But the thought of seeing Chris, and being in the warm weather was too tempting to pass up, so she came along. She could always have the party next weekend after she convinced her mother that her father would want her along on the next trip.

She hadn't seen Chris yesterday though, which was a bummer. He had moved down to Florida last month, right around here actually, in the Tampa area, so she had no chance of just running into him in elevators, or at the pool, which is where she was headed right now. The weather had started to turn south back home in Connecticut, so she was going to get a tan and pretty much make her friends jealous of her when she came back with a natural looking bronze look.

"Steph!"

She turned and saw Chris there and she was surprised. He walked over to her and she stopped to wait for him. "Hey Chris, what's up? What are you doing here?"

"Where are you heading?" he asked her.

She looked down at the large t-shirt and flip-flops she was wearing and then the towel hanging over her arm. "Where do you think I'm going, Chris?"

He looked down at her, and thanked God that the large t-shirt was otherwise obscuring her body. Damn, something was wrong with him if he was checking her out. That was wrong, so very wrong, "Oh, I didn't notice."

"Why are you here, if you need my Dad, he's up in his room, if you want to go see him," she told him. "Or if you're looking for someone else, I have pull, I can get you their room number."

"Actually, no, I was waiting for you, I've actually been sitting over there," he told her, pointing towards a bank of tackily decorated couches that faced the elevator. "I wanted to talk to you and I figured that you weren't going to stay in your room all day."

"Of course not, what do you think I am, some like freak or something?"

"No, I don't think you're a freak, which is why I waited here. I didn't want to bug you if you were in your room or something, I just wanted to see you."

There was something in his voice that made her heart ache a little bit. She had pretty much given up on her crush on Chris and had started looking at the boys in her class, the immature dorks that they were. Chris was just so much older, and she had absolutely no chance with him, and Stephanie wasn't the kind of person to dwell on things. When shoulder pads had gone out of style, she had been the first one to totally get those out of her wardrobe. She was way ahead of her time. Her and Chris though, she had to move on because he could have any girl, and she was pretty sure she was the last one on the list.

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, I wanted to wish you a happy 17th birthday for one," he told her and she grinned at him. "Seventeen is a good age, I remember it well…and well, I have a gift for you, and I wanted to give it to you."

"A present, ooh, gimme, gimme," she said excitedly, then realized how much like a little kid she sounded and tried to save face, "I mean, that's great, I appreciate that you would get me something for my birthday, you really didn't have to."

"Nope, you're caught, you were totally like, wanting the present," he teased.

She pushed him in the shoulder, "Don't be such a geekburger, Chris, I was just showing how happy I was to be getting something, that's all, don't make me look like a total dweeb or something."

"You're not a dweeb," he told her affectionately, "but I don't have your present on me currently, I left it at my apartment, I was hoping that I could meet you later and give it to you then, if that's okay with you, if you don't have plans."

"As if," she told him. "Who am I going to go out with, my mom and dad? Yeah, because I want to look like a dufus or something."

"Again, not a dufus," he told her. "But if you don't have plans, how about I pick you up here about seven, if you're parents are cool with that, and I can take you to the beach or something and give you your present, sound good?"

"The beach, you want to take me to the beach?" she asked.

"It's a lot cheaper than taking you out to dinner," he joked. "And yeah, I'm getting a regular salary now, but I just bought an apartment and new furnishings, so you know, I'm a little strapped for cash."

She laughed, "I wasn't like asking you to take me out to dinner, it's just…nothing, never-mind, I don't think my parents will care, you're like the one person they trust around here or something. I thinks it's because Shane thinks of you as a friend, if you were just _my_ friend, they'd totally think you had bad intentions or something."

He looked down and laughed, "Okay, I'll meet you here about seven, okay?"

"Sounds good," she told him, then pointed towards the pool area, "I'm going to go get that tan though, gotta make my friends totally jealous of me."

"I get it," he said, waving his goodbye at her.

Stephanie almost literally squealed when Chris was out of earshot. He was asking her out for tonight! Okay, so it was just to give her a birthday present and not to take her out on an actual date or anything, and she had been alone with Chris plenty of times, but she had the same reaction almost every time he did. She was seventeen and it was like the world was her oyster and every boy wanted her. She knew that wasn't the case, but she could pretend for a little while that she had somehow moved to the top of the list and Chris really did want her. Yes, she could pretend. But for right now, she had to get a bitchin' tan so she could look good tonight.

Except she had nothing to wear, she thought, as she threw down another outfit. She was completely freaking out right now because she hadn't brought anything that would look so totally cute on her. She just had jeans and t-shirts and she wanted to look good for Chris. She went over and knocked on the adjoining door next to her where her parents were staying. Her mother opened the door and saw her frazzled-looking daughter on the other side.

"Stephanie, what's wrong?"

"I have nothing to wear, Mom," she whined. "I have absolutely _nothing_!"

Linda looked over her daughter's shoulder and saw a pile of clothes sitting on the bed. "Sweeties, I see nothing but clothes over there, surely you have something that huge pile that you can wear."

"But Mom, that's the problem, I _don't_, and I want to look nice."

"It's just Chris," Linda said. "You've been out with him…oh, sweetie, do you have a crush on him?"

"What? No, he's just a friend, he's Shane's friend too, if Shane were to go out with him, I don't think you'd be asking him if he had a crush," Stephanie said petulantly. "He just wanted to give me my birthday present, that's all."

Linda wrapped her arm around Stephanie's shoulders, "Sweetie, its okay to have a crush on him. He's a very good-looking boy, and he's always been sweet and polite when I've been around him, I can just imagine if I were your age, I think I'd like him too."

"It's not like he likes me, Mom," Stephanie told her. "He's just a friend, and that's okay with me."

"Okay," Linda said, knowing that wasn't the true extent of her daughter's feelings towards Chris. She liked Chris, he was a nice young man who was trying his best to move up in the company and make a name for himself. She had to admire him for that and he had treated both her children as friends, which was something not a lot of people did around here because of what their last name was. "Have fun tonight though."

"Yeah, I'm just picking up a present," she said. Linda plucked a sundress out of the pile and handed it to Stephanie with a smile.

"You'll look nice in that."

"Okay," she relented, taking it and going to change.

Chris was sitting on the couches when she went down there, looking bored. When he saw her though, he stood up and waited. She had to admit, she was looking good. The white sundress set off the tan she had gotten earlier and she was wearing just a simple pair of flip-flops, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, some of the hair escaping and framing her face. She smiled as he smiled down at her.

"Hey," he told her.

"Hey back," she said. "So to the beach?"

"Yeah, to the beach," he said, putting the hand on the small of her back and leading them out to his car.

"You bought a new car," she marveled.

"Not new, it's used, but there weren't many miles on it and it's in good condition," he told her, hitting the car on the hood. "As long as she gets me where I need to go, we'll have a great relationship."

"It's cool," she complimented as he opened the door for her, something he always did, and she always admired. When she went out with the boys in her school, they never opened the door for her. Instead, they would just get in the car and wait for her to get in. Maybe Chris was just more mature, or maybe he was just nicer. She got in and waited for him to jog around the car and get in himself. "So where's this beach?"

"Pretty close to where I live actually, that's how I found it," he told her. "It was one of the reasons that I wanted to live down here, when you're in Winnipeg, there aren't many beaches."

"I bet," she giggled as she watched the passing scenery.

"Did you have a good birthday?" he asked her as they drove.

"Yeah, my friend Cara brought me cupcakes, and then everyone gave me balloons to put on my backpack, so everyone knew it was my birthday, and my friend Gina, she told the entire history class and they all sung happy birthday to me, it was embarrassing, but fun," she told him, and she hated the fact she sounded like such a kid right then, cupcakes and balloons, she might as well have told him a clown came and a magician too, one who would do illusions for her and her little kiddie friends.

"Sounds cool," he said genuinely, "that must be a girl thing though, I don't think I'd eat any cupcake made my any of my friends."

"Yeah, Cara is a total cook," Stephanie said, trying to sound a little more mature. Just a tiny bit. She knew this wasn't a date, but still, if she could just, for once, not sound like a little kid around him, she'd count that as a victory.

"Here we are," he said as he pulled up to a beach and parked. "I've got your present in the back."

"Great," she said, getting out of the car. She called out to him, "I'm going to go on down, I'll meet you there."

"Okay," he called back.

She went down the stairs that lead to the beach and she relished in the first step, her foot sinking ever so slightly. The salty air nipped at her nose and she inhaled deeply. There were still people around since they had yet to change the clocks back and the sun was still out, but setting soon. There were people walking, some sitting, a couple playing with their dog. She walked closer, hearing the roar of the ocean as it lapped up onto the beach, the white caps seeing land for the first time in hundreds of years. She stood there, glancing over her shoulder to see Chris coming down the steps. She turned back to the water, taking it all in.

"Okay, found it," he said as he jogged up to her. "Here."

He thrust the gift upon her and she saw it was actually more than one thing. "You really didn't have to get me anything, Chris."

"We're friends, it's what being a good friend does," he told her, shrugging.

"But you said you were strapped for cash," she pointed out.

"Who cares? You only turn seventeen once, so go ahead, open it up."

She took the top gift and handed him the other one, ripping it open. She saw that it was a diary, and a really pretty one at that, it even came encased in a little box that she could lock. "Thank you."

"Well, you mentioned that you liked writing stories, and that eventually you'd love to write storylines for your dad's company, and I thought that this could get you started," he said. "You don't have to use it for your girlie thoughts, you can just use it to jot down ideas that you're going to use in the WWF someday and totally make a name for yourself with."

That was such a lovely thought, "I don't think I've ever had anyone believe in me so much, not this much, not enough to actually help me get what I want."

"I just remember it, and yeah, there you go," he said, then handed her the other present. "And well, you should recognize what this is."

He handed her the next gift and she opened it, "Oh, Chris, this is the…"

"Yeah, that stupid looking picture frame that you saw at the mall and we didn't have any money because we spent it all on clothes and shoes."

"Well, you bought shoes, I bought clothes," she said. "Thank you, Chris, this is really cool, I really did want this picture frame, and it's not stupid, it's really not."

"Well, there's a little something in it too," he said, and she opened the back to see that he had put in a picture of them and Shane from when they were in Texas and all wearing cowboy hats, behind the picture that came in the frame.

She laughed, "Oh, I remember that day, you guys wanted me to buy the hat, and said I looked awesome in it when I really looked stupid."

"You were so close to falling for it and wearing that stupid, pink hat all day," he laughed. "Happy Birthday, Stephanie."

"This is really sweet, Chris, really, totally sweet," she said, looking up at him in thanks. "You gave me some awesome gifts, and look, we're here at the beach and the sunset is beautiful, so yeah, I'm having a good weekend."

"I'm glad," he chuckled. "Come on, let's walk, I know there's this pretty good…and cheap restaurant down the other end of the beach, let's walk it."

"What about your car?"

"We'll walk back, don't worry, I'll protect you from the big, bad toughs around here," he joked with her as he casually wrapped an arm around her.

"I'll pay for dinner," she offered.

"You'll do no such thing," he told her.

"No, really, let me, or at least let me pay for myself," she told him adamantly. He admired the way she was always trying to dictate what happened. She was so headstrong and he didn't even know if she really knew that she could persuade anyone to do anything. "I'm paying for something, Chris, don't argue with me."

He turn to look at her and was struck by how pretty she looked. She was beautiful in her simplicity and he felt himself compelled to tuck some of the strands of her hair over her ear. As he did so, though, he didn't even realize that he was leaning in and leaning in until his lips were on hers gently. Stephanie's eyes widened as his lips were actually touching hers. But she was no fool and she pretty much immediately started to kiss him back. Oh God, was she at the top of his list! She was way more eager than he was, trying to slow it down, but she wanted to kiss him feverishly and he ended up laughing against her as they stumbled around.

"Steph," he laughed, trying to pull away, "this is so wrong."

"So wrong it's right?" she said hopefully, a giddiness in her eyes that reminded him how young she was. That was a sobering thought.

"You're seventeen," he said quietly, almost shamefully.

"And you're twenty-two, who gives a shit?" she asked, kissing him again.

He could do nothing but give in.


	10. Chapter 10

"Say it again."

"Again?" he asked.

"Yes, one more time, humor me since it's still just after my birthday," Stephanie told him.

"It's been a week since your birthday," he told her.

"So, it's still closer to my birthday than it is to your birthday, so you have to do this for me," she said haughtily, like she was honestly entitled to something. She grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes as he brushed some of her hair back.

"You're my girlfriend," Chris told her impishly and she giggled madly as she ducked her head and rested it against his shoulder. Chris shook his head. Sometimes she could be such a child, which was something he was going to have to reconcile with himself. She was still seventeen and while that was legal in most states, it could still be looked down upon by…pretty much all of society.

"Okay, one more time, I promise, just one more time," Stephanie said, raising her head to look him in his blue eyes. She still couldn't believe that he had kissed her. Not only had he kissed her, they had made out, and now, _now_ she was his girlfriend. It was the best birthday present that she could've possibly hoped for. Hell, she could count this for the next ten birthdays.

"Another one?" he groaned. "I'm going to get my tape player and record it for you and then you can play it back whenever you want to."

"No, I want to hear it from the source, excuse me for being happy," she told him as she played with his hair. "You're not my first boyfriend or anything, just to let you know so you don't think I'm a total loser or dweeb."

"I didn't think that," he told her.

"Good, because I'm really not, and you're not my first boyfriend, but I had like the most hugest crush on you ever," Stephanie said, "but I figured since I was so much younger than you, you wouldn't see me as anything more than a little sister or something."

"Don't say little sister in my presence, okay?" he told her, grimacing at the reference. "I don't think of you as a little sister anymore, now you're my girlfriend, so there, happy now?"

"Very," she told him. "Sue me for being giddy, okay, I thought that you would definitely want someone with more…experience or something, not me."

"Well, you're pretty, what can I say?" he asked. "Plus, you're way more mature than you give yourself credit for, and I guess spending so much time with you made me fall for you, in some weird, crazy way."

"Well here's to the weird and crazy," she told him, kissing him lightly. "I'm going to miss you while you're traveling and I'm stuck at home."

"You have school," he said, then closed his eyes, "Oh God, did I just tell my girlfriend that she couldn't come visit me because she has school? And not even college, but high school, at least you're a senior, I guess it could be worse if you were a junior, but luckily for me, my girlfriend is smart and wasn't held back in the first grade or something."

"Nope, I'm just so good," she told him. "Won't you miss me too?"

"You want me to say I'm going to miss you?"

"Yes!" she told him jutting out her bottom lip. "It would be totally not cool if you didn't miss me because I'm your girlfriend now and you should miss me whenever I'm not around."

"And if I don't miss you? You'll do what to me?"

"That'd be so totally heinous, Chris," she told him. "It's just stupid, this whole school thing. I should just drop out and be a model or something, you think I could be a model, right? Oh, or I could be a manager, I could be _your_ manager!"

"No," he said, "I'm not going to let you drop out of school for me. You, Stephanie McMahon, you're going places."

"But I'll miss you, and I'll have all these stupid senior guys hitting on me, and they're all like, total dufuses. Not like my twenty-two year old boyfriend. And then what about the ring rats that are going to hang around you all the time?"

"I don't like ring rats," he told her sternly, kissing the tip of her nose. "So there's no chance that I'm going to cheat on you with some gross ring rat. They're all like in their thirties and grody."

She sighed dramatically. "I guess I can believe you, but don't mess up, mister."

"Well what about all those senior guys, total competition," he teased.

She made a face, "Dweebs, every last one of them, and I can fend them off, you underestimate everything I've learned from being around wrestlers, and taking care of myself is one of them, because everyone knows I'm tough."

"Speaking of that…"

"You're not going to like order me not to talk to any of the guys, right?" she laughed. "Because I'm not a fan of being told what to do, just ask my parents, I'm a rebel without a cause…or with a cause, either one, I don't know."

"Cute," he said, but turned serious, brushing her bangs away from her face. "Look, there is someone that I'm worried about, and since I'm your boyfriend now, I think that you'd believe me a little bit more."

"I'm not scared of the big, bad wolf…or the dark, I'm not a kid!" she told him.

"I definitely know that and stop bringing that up," he winced. "It's not anything like that, but it is serious, and I'm being serious right now, so do you think that you could do the same, be mature, Steph, don't make me feel creeped out for dating you."

"Okay, I'm mature. Lay it on me."

"Brian--"

"Clark?" she interrupted and he put his finger to her lips to silence her.

"Let me talk, here, Steph," he told her.

"Okay, okay," she mumbled against his finger, kissing it as he pulled away.

"He's bad news, okay. The way that he looks at you, hangs around you, it worries me, he's not a nice dude. I didn't tell you before because I know that you trust a lot of people, and Steph, that's not cool sometimes because people will take advantage of that," she looked away and started to slowly roll her eyes and he groaned and gently took her chin and turned it towards him, "Don't give me that look, Stephanie, you're too trusting, I'm afraid he's going to pull something on you."

"What, like what?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the way he looks at you."

She was annoyed at first, but realized that he was being protective of her. It wasn't the kind of brotherly protective that her brother was, but it was the boyfriendly kind, the good kind, and she saw actual concern in his eyes. She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. He pulled away though and looked at her imploringly, like he was waiting for some kind of confirmation that she understood what he had said.

"I get it, Chris, you don't like him, and you're worried about me."

"I was worried about you before," he told her, "but I'm more worried now because I care about you, and as your boyfriend, I'm going to watch out for you because you don't watch out for yourself. As Vince's daughter, you constantly have a target on your back, guys are always going to be looking to use you."

"And how do I know that you're not?" she asked curiously, though they both knew that it was a stupid question because Chris had never tried to use her, and everything that had happened between them had been completely mutual.

"Because I would not be dating a seventeen-year-old if I didn't truly care about her," Chris said. "So believe that, okay, so now that the serious portion of our weekend is over."

"You want to take me out to dinner?" she asked coyly. "I can't believe my dad won't call me in sick on Monday so that I can spend time with you."

"I'm so sure that he'd let you stay if you told him it was to spend time with your twenty-two year old boyfriend," he told her, rolling his eyes. "He'd just as soon send you to a boarding school in Switzerland if that were the case. Besides, Lance is coming in from Japan on Monday and he's spending the week with me, so you can't be here."

"How nice…"

"Stephanie…the key to being in a secret relationship is the secret part of it," he told her. "We can't let people know we're together, nobody would allow it, it'd be like Romeo and Juliet or something, and I'm not down with that."

"I know, it's just…I've never met him, and you know, he's like your best friend, and I'm your girlfriend, and it'd be nice," she told him, "but I'm not complaining, I swear to you, I won't complain, just don't…go find someone better, okay?"

She looked so innocent asking him that he had to kiss her. She deepened the kiss, making out with him, which she discovered rather quickly that she liked doing…a lot. He wrapped his arms more securely around her waist as she tilted her head to gain better access to his mouth. The funny thing with them was how natural it felt to be kissing each other. Between them, there was no awkwardness, now with the rest of the world…that was a whole different story.

There was a knock on Chris's door and he groaned as he pulled away and Stephanie smirked, "Don't get that."

"Have to, could be work related," he said, gently pushing her off of him so he could get up. He wiped his mouth with his forearm and went to the door, Stephanie trailing behind him, staring appreciatively at his backside.

He opened the door and saw Shane on the other side. He was also visiting for the weekend. "Hey man."

"Yo," Chris said, slapping hands with Shane as he looked over Chris's shoulder to see Stephanie.

"Oh, hey, Steph, so this is where you've been hiding, Dad wanted to know where you were so you could go out to dinner or something, were you watching television?" he asked, noting the television that was on.

"Yeah," Stephanie said. "I was bored."

Shane laughed, "So, Chris, I hope that you don't have plans tonight because I just met the two dopest chicks in the lobby, early twenties, totally gorgeous, you have to come out with me because I told them I had a friend, and you're that friend, so come on, it's a sure thing," he said, lowering his voice so his sister wouldn't hear.

Chris cleared his throat a little bit as he looked down at the ground. He didn't quite know what to say though at the moment. There was absolutely no way that he was going to tell Shane that he was dating Stephanie now. Shane was a friend, but he didn't know how good a friend he was, and he might honest-to-goodness kick his ass if he knew that he was dating his seventeen-year-old baby sister. Shane looked at him expectantly, waiting for an affirmation so he could go get those two girls who were sitting patiently downstairs.

"I don't know, man, I don't think that I'm up to it," Chris said, not even daring to look back at Stephanie.

"Oh come on," Shane said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You have to, you're not doing anything, you're sitting here watching TV, so come on, they're of age so we can go to a club or something, have a drink, I'm telling you…it's a sure thing."

"Yeah, I was just going to stay in tonight, maybe go out and grab a quick bite to eat, but nothing major. I kind of have a headache," he lied.

"Yeah, right, you're just messing with me now, you know you want to," Shane said, looking over at Stephanie. "You better get up to Dad, Steph, I don't think Chris'll appreciate you here in his room by yourself, no offense."

Chris finally looked back to Stephanie and she was standing there, looking very alone. There was no way that she hadn't heard every word that Shane had spoken. She looked up at her brother and Chris and gave a sad, little smile, shrugging a little bit. Chris gulped, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. He hadn't even been with Stephanie for a week, and already there were things being thrown in their way.

"Go ahead if you want," she said, her voice trying to remain steady. "I mean, you should, right, I'll just go to dinner with my dad…it's rad."

Chris took her in for a minute, and he could read her, and he wondered if Shane could too. He was her brother after all. He figured that he could, but Shane, rather than seeing it as a girlfriend trying desperately to hold onto her boyfriend, he saw it as his sister with a major crush on a guy and he was rubbing it in her face that she would never be with Chris. He suddenly felt bad about that.

"You know, I bet Dad will let you go shopping before dinner," Shane told her, tapping into her retail addiction. "Just go talk to him."

"Yeah, of course," she said, walking towards them. "Have fun tonight."

Chris wanted to speak up, but Shane was grinning at him, knowing that he was going to score tonight. Stephanie didn't look at Chris as she passed, embarrassed because she couldn't _ be_ Chris's girlfriend in the normal sense. She couldn't drink or anything, she was barely legal enough to drive let alone go to a club. She was just fooling herself with all of this. Why in the world would Chris want her when he could have anyone else? Someone with more experience? Prettier…not in freaking high school…

Chris didn't want to do this, he liked Stephanie, and despite her age, he loved being with her, "You know, Shane, I really can't, I just remembered I was supposed to take Stephanie out to dinner tonight."

"Oh, come on, Steph, give the guy a break, don't monopolize his time," Shane moaned.

"She's not," Chris said resolutely, giving her a quick smile. "I made plans with her, and I like sticking to that, sorry man, I'm sure that you can find someone else to go out with you, but I don't like going back on promises."

"Are you sure?" Shane asked, not understanding why he would want to be around his little sister rather than a girl who would probably screw him at the end of the night.

"I'm sure," Chris said.

"Your loss," he said, giving a short wave before leaving to get back to the girls so they wouldn't leave. Chris closed the door behind him and turned to Stephanie, leaning back against the door. "So you did mention that you wanted to go out to dinner, right?"

"You didn't have to do that," she told him quietly, looking up at him with those doe eyes of hers.

"I don't cheat on my girlfriend," he told her, ducking his head a little as he smirked at her, giving her a fake evil eye. "That's just not my style, besides, what am I going to find down there when I have something right here? Come on, get your coat, I'll take you out to dinner."

She smiled, "One night I'm taking _you_ out to dinner, do you hear me?"

"I'm not letting my girl pay," Chris told her, pulling her to him as he kissed her. "Not going to happen."

"We'll see," she said, kissing him back, giving him a peck on the lips. "Thank you for not going."

"Like I said, I don't cheat, and I don't leave my girl high and dry. Your brother will be fine without me, so come on, really, what do you feel like?"

"I don't know, whatever you want…you know, Chris, if you ever want to break up with me because of the age thing, I'll understand, I know that--" He cut her off with another kiss, pulling her even tighter against him. She smiled lazily as he pulled away.

"I don't care."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I don't like this chapter, but c'est la vie, leave a review anyways. :P

* * *

"Hey my man, what's happening?" 

"It's about time your ass got here," Chris laughed, but then shook Lance's hand and gave him a very manly hug. "It's great seeing you."

"Well, you know, it's hard, what with me being over in Japan almost all of last year, and you traveling around with the company."

"Hell yeah, we're going places, dude," Chris laughed as they walked out of the airport. "It's nice to see a familiar face though. You get used to the guys you work with, but it's different seeing someone you actually knew beforehand."

"Yeah, I get what you mean, Japan man, it's kind of crazy," Lance told him. "The language barrier. I did pick up a little bit."

"Sounds awesome, heard that Benoit was over there too, did you get to see him?"

"Yeah, saw him, not much to say, like usual," Lance chuckled. "The man is a walking vault. He'd probably be good to go to in a jam, he'd keep your secret, but he ain't exactly the best conversationalist."

"Yeah, I know that well," Chris said. "I think you'll like the guys backstage, some more than others."

Chris was thinking back to Brian again. When he had been out with Stephanie, and they had been coming back from their dinner, Brian had been in the lobby of their hotel, and when he saw Stephanie, it was like his eyes lit up. It wasn't the good kind, the kind he knew he did whenever he saw Stephanie, but it was the kind that decidedly more sinister. Stephanie had wanted to stay and talk to him, but then she saw the look on Chris's face and excused herself from him, much to Chris's relief.

"Okay, so who do you have a bone to pick with this time?"

"What? Nobody," Chris answered quickly.

"Like hell you do," Lance said, "I know you better than that, so who's the guy giving you a hard time?"

"It's just this dude, Brian Clark, remember him? I think we wrestled him once in Smoky Valley or something, but whatever, he's just really smarmy. I see him with a different rat every night, kind of sickening, wouldn't want to know what he has."

Lance laughed, "Yeah, I just…that's gross."

"I know," Chris said, then gave a small smile as he thought about his girlfriend. He couldn't help himself. Thinking about Stephanie seemed to be a sport for him now, a marathon because he seemed to be thinking about her all the time. He wondered what she was doing right now. She had flown home yesterday and she had school today, so she was probably doing homework or something. That was so sad, his girlfriend was probably working on her precalculus or something.

"What's with the face?"

"Nothing," Chris said, "just thinking."

"So you going to show me a good time tonight?" Lance asked. "I expect to be treated to dinner, and then to a club."

"Why would you ever want to go to a club again after you've worked in one?" Chris asked.

"Because I'm looking to get something, if you know what I mean, and not a disgusting ring-rat, but an actual girl who isn't some disgusting, disease-ridden groupie," Lance said. "I've been in Japan way too long, and I want to have some fun over here."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll show you a good time," Chris said as they drove out of the airport. "First though, I've got to get to work, you know that thing that we do for a living that puts food in my stomach and a roof over my head."

"Yeah, I haven't seen your new digs yet. And I heard that you got a new car…finally."

"Bessie was completely dead," Chris said, "besides, the salary is not bad at all, my friend, not bad at all."

"Well, that's all well and nice, rub it in why don't you?"

"I will, and I am," Chris laughed.

"Are you happy though? Seriously? Are you happy with where you've gone with all of this? You didn't have to take the WWF offer after all, are you happy that you did?"

Chris thought about that for a second. There were some days when he felt a little overmatched, like he wasn't quite ready to be there. There were other times when he was envious of his friend for traveling all over the world and learning all these different styles, but he felt like he was getting big-time experience, plus the salary was good and he was able to live way better than he had since he had moved out of his parent's house.

Then there was the entire deal with Stephanie. He really cared about her, and he was glad that he met her, so how could he not be happy when he had met his girlfriend here. "Yeah, I'm happy that I did. You can't trade this kind of experience, right?"

"Yeah, you do got a dope deal," Lance nodded. "So what do you have planned for tonight?"

"You came on a good night, I'm actually winning. I know, big change from being the eternal jobber," Chris joked.

"Who are you winning against?"

"Just Steven Dunn, but you know, it could be a lot worse, you just have to be thankful when you win," Chris shrugged.

"Dude, you should quit and come with me, you'd get a lot more training in different styles," Lance said.

"So you really came to visit to give me the hard sell, didn't you?"

"It crossed my mind," Lance admitted. "It'd be a lot easier traveling if you had someone to travel with, it gets lonely on the road, but if you're happy here, well…but seriously, you can trade back the experiences, and what's really tying you here? Aren't you just on a two year contract?"

"Well, I have the option to opt out of it," Chris said, but then, once again, he thought of Stephanie, "but I probably won't."

"Name me one thing that's keeping you here?" Lance asked.

She had brown hair and the cutest smile he had ever seen on any girl. He was surprised by how much he had fallen for Stephanie, and he tried to think logically of how long he had actually felt like this. Maybe the age thing had been the only thing holding him back from falling for her completely. She'd be devastated if he called and told her that he was flitting off to parts unknown, and when he thought a little harder, he came to see that he'd be pretty wrecked if he didn't get to see her either.

"I have my reasons."

"Oh come on, really?"

"Yeah, I do," Chris said firmly. "I have my reasons."

"Like what?"

"Like…well, I like it here."

"Dude…"

"Look, I should focus on work," Chris said sharply, causing Lance to shut up. He studied his friend, wondering why he wouldn't even consider it. Lance, for the most part, liked traveling the world and having one of his best friends there would be even better. But Chris seemed so opposed to it.

Chris barely talked to him for the rest of the evening. Lance couldn't figure it out at all. He didn't want to spend the next week in silence because he said something that he wasn't supposed to. Lance sighed as he followed Chris out of the arena, the other man seemingly so focused on something that Lance couldn't figure out. Lance finally decided that he was going to break this tense silence.

"Chris, sorry for whatever I said, dude."

"It's cool," Chris said, glancing at his friend, "I'm just really focused during work, you know how it goes."

"Yeah," Lance agreed even though he didn't think that Chris was really focused on his work and not on something else. "So how about we go out for a few drinks? My treat, seriously, I'll buy the first round and everything."

"Yeah, sure what the hell," Chris shrugged as he threw his stuff in the backseat.

"Rad," Lance said.

They drove out of the parking lot and started driving around, looking for a hot club. They found a bunch of people standing outside one club and decided to go there. Lance knew that he was going to find a lady for Chris and really gain his friend's forgiveness. There was nothing a little sex couldn't solve, and they were two young, good-looking guys.

Of course, Lance didn't factor in Chris acting like every girl in the place was dull and uninteresting. The man in question was sitting at the bar nursing a beer and barely looking up from his drink except to order another one. Lance was out on the dance floor, attempting to dance, but his friend was like a wet rag. He excused himself from his partner and walked up to Chris, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Come on dude, get out there."

"Not really feeling it," Chris said.

"You said you wanted to go out."

"Yeah, but I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"Give me a break," Lance said as he saw two women eyeing them. "Oh man, total babes at five o'clock."

Chris gave them a quick look, "Nice, you should go talk to them."

"No, _we're_ going to talk to them," Lance said, and before Chris could shake his head, Lance had literally pulled him from his seat and pushed him over to the two women. Lance smiled at them, "Hey ladies, I'm Lance and this is my best friend, Chris."

"Hi, I'm Tina, and this is my friend, Leslie," she said, pointing to her friend.

"Cool," Lance said, sitting down and shoving Chris down into the seat. "So we're not from around here, is this the only place to have fun?"

Tina laughed, "Pretty much, not much goes on around here, which is why we're here."

Lance and Tina got into a conversation with each other, leaving Chris with Leslie. He was pissed off at his friend for dragging him over here. Granted, Lance didn't know he had a girlfriend, but he should've at least listened to him before dragging him over here. He studied the label of his beer as the woman in front of him cleared her throat. He looked up at her slowly.

"Hi," she said, trying to be friendly.

"Hey," he said dismissingly.

"So, where are you from if you're not from around here?"

"I live in Tampa right now," he said, "I'm from Canada though."

"Sounds fun."

"It's nice, warm, in Tampa that is," he said, tapping his fingers.

"So what do you do?" she asked, still trying to make conversation with him. He was really cute, and she at least wanted to speak to him and see if he would be interested in her.

"I'm a professional wrestler," he answered succinctly.

"Oh, sounds interesting, I'm just a bookkeeper, really boring, sit there all day, you know, not really exciting, but your job sounds exciting."

"It is."

"Awesome," she nodded.

"Can you excuse me?" Chris asked, and she nodded. He got up and went towards the bathrooms and saw the pay phones. He went straight to it and dug through his pocket for some change. He slipped it into the phone and dialed Stephanie's private line, a present for her thirteenth birthday apparently.

"Hello?"

"Hey there, beautiful."

"Chris?"

"Who else is calling you beautiful?" he joked.

"Every person I've ever met," she said coyly. "Where are you? It sounds loud, and I know that the show is over."

"Club," he answered.

"A club, with Lance?"

"Yeah, he dragged me here, I didn't want to be here, but what could I do?"

"Are you at least having fun?"

"I miss you," he confessed.

She giggled, "I knew it! I knew that you were going to miss me, what did I tell you, Chris, and you called me a dork, but I was right, you miss me."

"I miss you, okay, does that make you happy to hear?"

"Yes, it does, it makes me missing you a little less wrong."

"I'm very missable," he flirted.

"You are."

"Lance is trying to set me up with someone, I'm just not feeling it though, I kind of have a girl waiting for me, a pretty great girl too," he told her. "I just thought that I'd tell you so that you don't have to be suspicious about what's going on."

"I wasn't, now I am."

"Nothing's going to happen, I promise."

"You don't have to tell me your entire schedule, Chris, I trust you," she told him, "I trust that you're not going to do anything to me."

"Good, I just…I wasn't having fun, and I just wanted to talk to you."

"You're sweet."

"My time is running out, but I just wanted to wish you a good night, and I hope that you're missing me too."

"Always," she told him. "It's okay though, I have a Monday off in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure that my dad will let me come to visit for the weekend. Or you can come here if you want, whatever, we'll talk."

"Yeah, bye babe," he told her.

"Bye Chris, don't do anything totally stupid."

"I won't."

He hung up the phone and turned to see Lance standing right there, "So you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh…uh…yeah," Chris said quickly. "Yeah…"

"Dude, come on, spill the details, who is she? Does she live in Tampa? Is she a total babe?" Lance asked, firing questions at him at a rapid pace. Chris rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not wanting to talk about it.

"It's nobody, don't worry about it," Chris said. "I'll tell you later, in a more private place."

"I'm holding you to that."

Chris suddenly found himself in a real bind.


	12. Chapter 12

Chris paced in his hotel room. Luckily, or unluckily, Lance had really hit it off with the Tina girl from the club. They were off somewhere, Chris didn't know. For all he knew, Lance and Tina were having a one-night stand, and he would spend the entire night away. That would be the best case scenario. The worst case scenario was if Lance were here right this moment asking about the girl on the phone. He gave a long glance to the door, half-expecting a knock to sound, signaling that Lance had come back.

Nobody knocked.

He took a sigh of relief at that and resumed his pacing. Hopefully Lance was off somewhere getting laid. That would hopefully push out the questions from his brain. He didn't know what to say about Stephanie. There were really only two options. He could lie his ass off, or he could cop up to the truth. The latter seemed way more frightening though. Telling the truth about Stephanie? That just didn't sit well in his stomach.

He was just getting used to the idea that he was dating a seventeen-year-old, so making his friend get used to the idea while he still wasn't one-hundred percent comfortable with it If Lance gave him that look, Chris would be done for, stupid disapproving look. Lance had been against this from the beginning, telling him to be careful, telling him all this stuff, and now if he found out that he had a seventeen-year-old girlfriend…well, Lance wasn't the type of guy to joke, no, he'd probably chastise Chris and call him a pervert, though he and Stephanie hadn't done much more than make-out.

It wasn't like he was some predator who was stalking young girls or anything. He didn't have an interest in pressuring Stephanie to do anything just because she was his girlfriend. Since his father had played hockey until he was eight years old, his mother had a big influence in his life, and she had taught him, first and foremost, that he should respect women, and it was something he carried with him still. He respected Stephanie, and he respected her age, and he liked her in spite of it.

But how do you tell that to another person and have them believe it? Wrestling was a very…well, needless to say, guys kind of spread themselves around. It was like any other sport, really, a different girl in every city. He hadn't really seen it while training so much, but once he started to get gigs and started to see more and more girls hanging around him, he understood much better the lifestyle that some of these guys chose to lead. And if that worked for them, great, but that wasn't Chris's style.

He just wasn't that kind of guy, and maybe that made him weird, and maybe that made him somewhat of a prude, but he just didn't get the fascination of having a different girl every night, barely remembering their names, leaving in the morning. He knew that being left by himself would feel like shit, so why would he want to do that to someone else? He wasn't totally religious, but he had a lot of faith, and he knew that an important rule was to treat others as you would want to be treated, and he knew that he wouldn't want to be with someone who couldn't remember his name, and left him without a word, having someone use him. Yeah, so he wasn't your typical guy, but when you've pretty much only had one woman raise you, you don't exactly follow the script.

Stephanie knew why he was with her, and that was good enough for him in a lot of ways. He loved being with Stephanie, who was so much wiser than her age indicated, but Lance wouldn't understand that, would he? Chris felt like he should have more faith in his friend, but it was hard to think that. He hadn't regretted being with Stephanie up until this moment. Was this shame he was feeling? Was he ashamed of her? Or perhaps he was ashamed that he had fallen for someone younger than him, someone still in high school. He grimaced at that, if only she were in college, then this would be so much easier.

But then, can you really control who you fall for?

He wanted to call Stephanie, but it was really late, and a Monday night, and he knew she had school tomorrow. He thought over her schedule and realized that on Tuesdays, she had first period off, so she could sleep in if she wanted. Still, it was past one o'clock, and he really didn't want to disturb her if she was sleeping. On the other hand, she was the only person who could calm him down. Well, he guessed he could go to Shane to talk about it, not using names of course. Shane was still here, cutting school for a couple days. He might understand…or not.

He wondered how Shane would react. He had told him a while ago that if he did date Stephanie, he wouldn't care because he would know that someone was looking after his baby sister. Still, thinking that you were okay with something wasn't the same as actually being okay with something. Shane might be liable to give him a black eye or something, then tell Vince and get him fired, and then lock Stephanie in her room until she turned fifty. Okay, so that last one may not happen, but the others were very plausible. That was the last thought he had before he went to the phone in his room.

He looked to the phone, checking how to dial out for long distance phone calls. He hesitated a moment, but Stephanie had her own phone line and her parent's room was like a whole wing over from her own room, so they wouldn't hear the phone go off and wonder who was calling their daughter so late. He dialed Stephanie's number and hoped she would pick up.

The first sound that greeted him was a grunt, and then a gruff, but still cute, "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Chris, is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you drunk or something, why are you calling me so late?" she asked.

"I fucked up," he told her plainly.

Stephanie's stomach jumped and she sat up in bed, pulling the covers around her more tightly. She gulped before speaking again, "You messed up? Um…how did you mess up?"

Chris didn't even realize that he had sounded like he had cheated on her, "Well, when I was on the phone with you earlier, I didn't see Lance coming over, but he heard the last part of our conversation, and he was asking about you."

"Oh, is that it?" Stephanie said, lying back down and burrowing her head into her pillow again.

"Is that it?" Chris asked incredulously. "Stephanie, do you get what I'm saying here? Lance heard me talking to you, he doesn't know that I have a girlfriend, I mean, he does now, but he wants to hear all about you."

"Oh, well, okay…I'm still not seeing what the big deal is," Stephanie said. "I thought that you could lie or something, wasn't that in the plan?"

"Well, yeah, I guess I could lie, but what if he figures it out, there's only so much about you I can say, or the fake you."

"Chris, it's really late," she told him, "and while I love that you can call me and that you did call me, I have school in the morning."

"But you have first period off."

"I know this, but I still need to sleep," she said with a small laugh. "If you want, tell him about us, will he really think you're a dork if you're dating a seventeen-year-old."

"No, I'm scared that he'll think I'm a pervert," Chris told her.

"You aren't though," she said as she yawned. "You've never pushed me to do anything, you're the perfect gentleman, which I find totally sweet, just so you know."

"Well…thanks for that," he said, smiling a little. "I just…I don't like lying to him, he's my best friend, you know."

"Then wouldn't he support you?"

"Don't be all smart with me, McMahon," he told her. "But still, if I lie to him, it's like, totally bogus, right, I'm being a bad friend if I lie straight to his face. But…he said I shouldn't get involved with you, when I told him I was becoming friends with you. He just told me…that I shouldn't get involved is all."

"Well…you have to decide, I don't know the guy."

"He's kind of conservative, think of me, then picture the exact opposite of me, looks-wise too, now what do you see?"

"Well, a really ugly, stupid, not nice guy, is that what you want me to picture?" she asked.

Chris groaned, "No, well, he's not as cute as me, but who is? He's smart, but he's like, very stern, I don't know, he's just not me, he's…ugh, this is so bogus."

"Well, since it's making me lose sleep, yeah, it's totally bogus, Chris, can I please go now," she whined. "I like talking to you, really, but I'd like to do it when the sun is up and I'm well-rested."

"Do you have any tests tomorrow?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I mean, if you aren't really doing anything…"

"What?"

"I don't know," he chuckled, "I just want you to stay on the line with me, that's all."

"Can't, sleep, bed," she told him in disjointed sentences. He could hear her yawn again, and he felt bad for keeping her up when she so obviously wanted to go to sleep.

"So do you hate me yet? Calling you at all hours, bugging you when you want to sleep? Do you want to break up with me yet?"

"Nah, I think I'll keep you," Stephanie said. "For now…"

"Gee, thanks," he said, "but you're tired and I wouldn't want you to miss out on any beauty sleep, so I'll let you go."

:"Thank you, and good luck with Lance," she said, "bye, Chris."

"Bye, beautiful," he said, hanging up the phone and lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He didn't know how long he had stayed there, studying the patterns in the ceiling, but before he could even really start to think of a plan, he heard a knock on the door. He looked to it like it would suddenly burst open like there was a flood or something coming. But no flood, and he went over to it, opening it slowly. It was Lance, and he had been dreading that. At this point, he would've rather it been Adams, who he hated like poison.

"Hey man, sorry I'm back so late," Lance said.

"It's cool," Chris said, "did you bone her?"

"What? No," Lance told him. "We went out for coffee and donuts. She's awesome, man, definitely girlfriend material."

"Wow, and here of all places," Chris chuckled. "So I guess you want to hit the sack, I'll see you in the morning."

"Nah, I'm wired from the coffee," Lance said, pushing himself into the room. "I want to finish the conversation we were having earlier."

Chris decided to play dumb, "What conversation?"

"The one after you got off the phone with the mystery chick," Lance said, sitting in one of the armchairs in the room. "Then I'll head over to my room. I want to know all about her. You should have told me that you had a girlfriend, I never would've pushed Tina's friend on you."

"It's okay," he said, shrugging it off.

"So come on, spill the details," Lance told him. "Is she bitchin? Have you slept with her?"

"Yes, and no," Chris answered succinctly. "Well, goodnight."

"What? That's all you're giving up. Do you have a picture of her?" Lance asked.

"Uh…no," he said, even though he did have a picture of Stephanie in his wallet. It was a shot of the two of them and Shane from some amusement park they went to. It had been right after they had gone on this roller coaster, and they all looked really funny. He also had her school picture, but like hell he was going to pull that one out and show it to Lance.

"What's her name?" Lance said, "You can tell me that at least, right?"

"Well," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"What the hell, dude?" Lance said, "You seem like you don't even want to talk about her, are you sure you _have_ a girlfriend?"

"I do…we're just…kind of private, that's all."

"I'm your best friend," Lance said. "At least I thought I was, you can trust me."

Chris wondered if that particular sentiment would prove to be true. He really wanted to tell someone about Stephanie, but it was just so risky. But Lance was his best friend, and if he couldn't trust him, who could he really trust in the end. You had to trust some people in your life or else you were just sitting around waiting for something to happen that wasn't going to happen.

He cleared his throat, trying to prepare himself before he let the truth out, "And I can trust you?"

"Yeah, you can, of course you can."

"Fine…her name's Stephanie," he said, and he instinctively smiled at the sound of her name off his lips. It felt natural.

"That's a nice…whoa, wait a second, Stephanie, as in…Stephanie McMahon?" Lance inquired, his eyes widening.

"Uh…yeah, that's the one," Chris said, trying to read Lance's face.

"Dude, she's like…"

"Seventeen, she's seventeen."

"High school! She's in high school!"

"She's a senior," he tried to argue, "and what, I'm only twenty-two, so what?"

"You'll be twenty-three in November, dude," Lance said. "You're twenty-three going out with a seventeen-year-old."

"Look, I know that it sounds weird, it sounded weird to me at first too--"

"I thought you said there was no chance in hell that you would date her, I thought you said it would be crazy, and you didn't."

"I felt that way for a long time, but something changed, I don't know," he said, running his hands through his hair. "I like her, Lance, I really like her, I like spending time with her. She's like the only girl that I ever want to spend time with. I've never met a girl that could capture my attention like she can. She's one-of-a-kind."

"She's in high school!" he exclaimed again.

"I know! Okay, I know this, I'm well aware."

"No, dude, this is bad, this is so wrong, man, we're not kids anymore, dude, we're men now, and you're dating a high schooler, you're one of those guys."

"No, okay, I'm not," he said firmly. "I've never even looked at another high school girl since I graduated from high school, but Stephanie is different. She travels here sometimes, this is what she wants to do, and she's so smart, you wouldn't even think she was seventeen. Look, nobody knows about us because we figured that we'd get the reaction that you're giving me right now, so even if you hate me and think I'm grody, can you just keep it to yourself?"

"Dude, Chris, come on, you can get any girl that you want to, and you choose a high schooler…wait, are you using her?"

"No! I would never do that to her, never," Chris said. "You just don't get it. You'd have to meet her to get it."

"I don't think this is right, dude. It seems really wrong."

"Sometimes I feel the same way, like I am doing something wrong, but the alternative, not having her, it doesn't feel right either. I don't know, I think…I think I may be falling in love with her."

"Whoa…are you serious?"

"Yeah, I think I am," he said.

"Well, if you feel that deeply, I guess…age shouldn't matter."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah, sure, you're my best friend, and if you say she's rad, I guess I have to believe you."

"You can meet her if you want, you'll see."

"Yeah, sure, I guess I can."

Chris smiled, and felt for the first time like he and Stephanie could really have something here. It was a good feeling to be sure.

"Great, she wants to meet you."

"She does?"

"Yeah, she does."

"Well, don't make me regret giving you my support, Irvine."

"I won't, trust me."


	13. Chapter 13

Now that someone knew about him and Stephanie, Chris felt a little bit better about the entire thing. They weren't a complete secret anymore, and that was a relief. Even if it was just one person, it was still a relief to have it out there and to have it be known by someone. He knew that he could trust Lance with the secret of him and Stephanie, he was just worried that Lance would think less of him for going out with a high school girl.

Maybe it was one of those star-crossed things, the whole West Side Story-type love story where you had these two separate groups and the two people who fall in love with each other. It didn't feel wrong to them, but people certainly could see the age difference between them. It wasn't like he could take Stephanie to her senior prom without people thinking that he was at least in college, let alone out of college and completely on his own.

It had been three weeks since he had told Lance. Unfortunately, Stephanie wasn't exactly a person who could just fly out whenever she wanted to since she had school five days a week. Plus, on Chris's off-days spent at home, he couldn't exactly call her up and tell her to come down for the weekend lest it raise the suspicions of her parents who might just have a problem with their daughter going down to her secret boyfriend's house unsupervised (not that he had slept with her in that sense). So they hadn't seen each other and he hadn't had the opportunity to introduce her to his best friend.

This weekend however, she was traveling with the company and they were finally able to see each other. At the moment, they were in his bedroom, lying on the floor, her head on his stomach as they stared up at the ceiling. It was day after a show and they were both pretty bored, but didn't want to waste the opportunity to spend time with each other. Stephanie was playing with Chris's hand, neither one speaking, just enjoying the other's company.

"My homecoming dance is coming up in a couple of weeks," Stephanie told him as she laced her fingers with his.

"I always hated dances."

"Why?"

"They're totally lame, you get dressed up and for what? Usually you end up having a really bad time in a really bad gym or something, and it's just not fun for me, but if you think that it's fun, we'll just agree to disagree."

"Well, I like getting dressed up, but I'm a girly girl, so that's expected of me," Stephanie said. "I was just telling you because we hadn't actually spoken in like fifteen minutes and I was getting a little tired of the silence."

He laughed, "I thought that it was a comfortable silence."

"I was, but I just like your voice," she told him and he smiled at the sentiment.

"Well, if we're discussing what's going on in our lives, Lance is going to be crashing with me for a couple of months, he got a gig at this local wrestling company down in Tampa, so instead of finding his own place, he's going to help me pay for mine, which should clear up some money for me."

"Great," she said enthusiastically, "I'm glad that you're saving."

"Why? So I can buy gifts for you?" he teased.

"Oh yeah, that's all I ever want," Stephanie said sarcastically. "Maybe I'll get to meet him then."

"How? You're going to sneak away one night and hitchhike down to Florida?"

"Yeah, how else?" she joked.

"I'd never let you hitchhike anywhere, are you kidding me? That's so dangerous," he said protectively and she blushed a little bit at the tone of his voice. She couldn't help it, she loved when he got protective of her. It gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling inside of her that she wanted to hold on to for a long time. "But yeah, maybe I can invite up Lance and you can meet him, and I can convince him that I'm not crazy for falling for you."

"You're not crazy," she assured him. "Anyways, a couple of guys were…well, pursuing me for the dance, not too many, but there are a couple who have asked me already, and I said that I would think about it."

"I'm insulted, Stephanie, you said maybe after I've flatly turned down women for you, I mean, we're obviously on two completely different levels here," Chris told her with a smirk, that she couldn't see from her position.

Stephanie turned a little, wondering if he was actually being serious. She was about to reassure him that she was with him, completely, when she saw his face and rolled her eyes, laying her head back down on his stomach. "I'm just telling you since you told me about that girl when you were with Lance, and then when you feel the need to tell me about every girl that ever hits on you, my parents are going to start wondering about my phone bill…that is if they didn't have someone else take care of the bills."

"Oh yeah, I never thought about that," Chris said, "I never thought that your parents could actually look and be suspicious."

"They don't, so don't worry about it," she told him. "So…I mean, I appreciate that you call me…at all hours of the night, so I just thought that you should know that I had some guys who were asking me."

"I think you should go to the dance if you want to go to the dance," Chris told her.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Steph, if you want to go do something like that, don't let me stop you. I know that I probably can't go, not only because nobody really knows about us, but because I'll probably have work and won't be able to come there to be with you, but I don't want you sitting at home while all your friends are out having fun."

"You really wouldn't mind if I went with another guy?"

"As long as you don't dump me for him," he teased. "That would be totally bogus."

"Like I'd give you up," she said, turning over and leaning her arms on her stomach. "I really did want to kind of have an excuse to get a new dress, I do so wish that you could be the one to come with me, though, I think that would be way more fun."

"Yeah, I'm sure that you'd want me there, not knowing anybody, having people stare and ask who the hell I was, I'm sure that's just what you want."

"It is, I love being stared at," she kidded with him. There was a knock on the door and Stephanie looked at Chris questioningly. "Were you expecting someone?"

"Uh, no, I bet it's your brother though," Chris said. "Probably coming to bug me again about something or someone. What's the occasion again that you're all here for?"

"My cousin is getting married tomorrow and the wedding is about an hour away so my father just decided to get us all to the show and then we'd take a limo from there," Stephanie explained. "That's why my mom is here too, and why Shane flew down."

"Yeah, I got that after you explained why _you_ were here," he laughed, leaning up to kiss her gently. She got off of him and then held her hand out to help him stand. She grunted as she pulled him up and right into her, bumping her lips against his playfully as he kissed her again. "We're ignoring whoever's at the door."

"It's probably my brother, he can wait," Stephanie said as she wrapped her arms around Chris's waist and just hugged him.

"Okay, time to let go of the boyfriend."

"No," she whined.

He gently pushed her away and went up to the door, fully expecting it to be Shane coming to try and get him to go after some chicks he met in the lobby or at a bar, or at a restaurant, or walking down the street. He was surprised to see that it was his boss. He straightened a little bit, not expecting Vince to show up at his hotel room door.

"Uh, hey, Mr. McMahon," Chris said, wondering why he was referring to his boss so formally. "What can I do for you?"

"Daddy?" Stephanie said, peeking her head over Chris's shoulder.

"Stephanie?" Vince said, his gaze going from Chris to Stephanie and back again. Vince knew that his daughter was friends with the young, blond Canadian, but he didn't know how comfortable he was with them hanging out in his hotel room by themselves it looked like. His daughter was only seventeen years old, still a baby girl in his eyes.

"Hey, Daddy," Stephanie said sweetly, a little weary that she was with Chris right now. She knew her father wanted to protect her from everything in the business, so he probably didn't like this.

"I didn't know that you were here."

"Oh, I didn't know that I had to clear it with you," she said with just the tiniest bit of attitude in her voice. Chris had to fight the smirk when he heard it in her voice. That little bit of sassiness that Stephanie had for everything was what was going to make her great someday, he could feel it.

"Well, of course not, but…anyways, are you going to come to dinner with your mother and I?"

"Is Shane going?"

"Yes, he is."

"Yeah, I guess I can go," she said, though she and Chris had been discussing plans between them last night over the phone, but if she were to tell her father that she didn't want to go out to dinner with them when her brother was, that would definitely raise her father's ire and suspicion.

"Okay, well, anyways," he said, shaking his head, "What I wanted to tell you Chris was that your opponent for tomorrow had a family emergency and therefore went home so you don't have a match at the show tomorrow, I'm sorry that we had to cancel, you'll of course be paid for it, but I wanted to inform you myself so you knew that it wasn't someone ribbing you."

"Thanks, Vince."

"You're free to go home early if you wish since this is the last show for this week."

"I'll stick around if it's okay with you," he replied, "Just in case you need someone to fill in at the last minute, I can be the alternate or something."

Vince was impressed by him in that moment and gave him a look of appreciation. "Well, I'll keep that in mind then, Stephanie, shall we?" he asked.

"Oh, let me just get my coat," Stephanie said.

"Let me get it," Chris said, turning and walking further into the room to get her coat which she had strewn over a chair. He held it out to her and she smiled gratefully before mouthing how sorry she was that she had to go. He gave an almost imperceptible nod to her and she turned to leave with her father.

Once they were out of the room and into the hallway, Vince turned to his little girl, "So…what were you and Chris doing in there?"

"We were talking and watching television," she answered, leaving out the making out part of their afternoon.

"Alone?"

"He's a friend, Daddy," she explained, annoyed that her father was grilling her like she had done something wrong. "Shane has friends who are girls."

"Yes, but he's a wrestler and he's older than you are, much older."

"Not _that_ much, he's friends with Shane too. We hang out a lot, he's a very nice guy, Daddy."

"I know that he's a nice guy, Stephanie, I just don't want you to be taken advantage of. You know how this business is, it's all politicking and trying to get ahead--"

"It's like a modern-day rat race," Stephanie finished for him. "I've heard this speech a million times, Daddy, and it gets totally old. Chris and I are friends, you like him, remember?"

"I do like him, but I don't know if I want you to hang around him," Vince told her sternly. This incited something in Stephanie. It was the old double-standard. She had never heard him chastise Shane for hanging out with any of his friends, and she had met some of Shane's friends and some of them were definitely not on the straight and narrow path of goodness.

"You can't tell me who to hang out with!" she said in a fiery outburst. "You can't do that!"

She stomped forward, breaking stride with her father and going to the elevators, not even waiting for her father, who had to slide in quickly before the doors shut, "Do not take that tone with me, Stephanie. I'm your father and I know what's best for you."

"Until when, Dad?" she asked. "When do I get to think for myself?"

"I'm not suggesting that you can't think, I just worry about your well-being."

"Chris is a friend, and he's never been anything more than a gentleman."

"I've been around this business longer than you have been alive and…"

"Daddy, sometimes you're not a good judge of character, and don't tell me who I can't hang out with, I'm not going to listen to you," she said, using her key to open the door to her own hotel room and slamming the door shut behind her, but not before telling her father, "Come and get me when we're going out to dinner."

Vince sighed and went to the room next door, which was his own. Linda was sitting at the table talking on the telephone to someone about business. She looked up and smiled at her husband, but frowned when he looked particularly troubled. She gave her farewells and then turned to her husband, who sat on the couch in the room and just stared. She rolled her eyes at his attempt to get her attention. It was pathetic really.

"What's wrong, Vince?"

"I had a fight with Stephanie."

"Again? What this time?"

"Boys."

"Boys?" she asked, "Oh Vince, what have I told you about her? She's just like you, you're going to clash all the time, just let her live her life."

"I caught her in Chris Jericho's hotel room by themselves," he said, like she should be shocked.

"Were they naked?"

"No, they were just watching television, but they were alone."

"Vince, don't you see?"

"What?"

"She has a crush on him," Linda said gently.

"A what?" Vince said, turning to his wife with wide eyes, "She has a _what_ on him?"

"A crush, honey," she told him. "She likes him. And I can see why to be frank. He's a good boy, a gentleman, his mother should be proud. I don't think that you have anything to worry about with them spending time with each other."

"Still, the fact remains, he's a wrestler."

"I don't think he's bad news, honey."

"Well, you just never know with these things…you never know a boy's intentions, trust me, I was a boy once, I know how they think."

"Let her have her crush, Vince, she'll get over it in time."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hey, thanks for the reviews, and I'll try and see if I can fit more matches and stuff in. In the meawhile, I started a new story, "Twilight on a Broken Star," so if you're a fan, definitely go check that out as I really like it. Anyways, leave a review. :)

* * *

Chris ducked out of the way of the impending clothesline, lithely bouncing off the ropes and going for a dropkick on his opponent. For once, this wasn't going to be a total squash. He knew that Vince was using him as a virtual punching bag for the higher-ups. He understood Vince's decision, knowing that he had much less experience than the veterans in the company, but sometimes it still got frustrating. He knew that he could put on a good match. He didn't want to brag, but the short time that he had spent in the indies had shown him that he was at least a cut above a lot of people in the business right now.

He was in a match against a guy named Jack Flash. Yes, that was the guy's actual name. Chris had put a painstaking effort into choosing his wrestling name. He had at first wanted to be known as Jack Action, which was lame, he knew, well, no, he didn't know, Lance had to tell him it was lame for him to figure it out. So he had settled upon Chris Jericho, and he liked it, it was fierce in a way that he thought the fans might remember him. Jack Flash on the other hand, well, that was even lamer than Jack Action.

The guy he was facing was pretty good, a novice, even more so than he was, but he thought they were putting on a pretty decent show right now. Chris stomped into him and then picked him up, telling him that he was going to do a DDT on him. The guy nodded and Chris executed the move to perfection. He liked wrestling when there weren't any cameras because it just meant that there wasn't a set time limit. One thing that Chris loved about this business was the ability to entertain people. It was all he wanted to do.

As he took an enziguri, he fell to the ground and waited for the guy to try and go for a moonsault. He moved out of the way at the last second, letting the guy fall to the ground in seemingly unbearable pain. He pulled him into his submission move, basically a Boston Crab and waited for the guy to tap. He made a valiant effort to get to the ropes, but just at the last second, Chris pulled him back towards the center of the ring, giving him no other choice but to tap out.

Chris raised his arms in victory before the cheering crowd. He climbed out of the ring and slapped hands with the people in the front row, stopping to sign a program for a little kid. He smiled and waved to the crowd before going backstage and immediately getting handed a towel and a bottle of water. He wiped the sweat off of his face and took a long swig of water as he continued to catch his breath. He stood there for a second taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Hey, good match, man," his competitor said as he came backstage and got the same treatment. "I think we put on a show."

"Yeah, it was good, I think that the fans enjoyed it," Chris said as he shook the guy's hand. "I hope we can work together some other time."

"For sure," he said before walking off to take his shower and get cleaned up. Chris stayed around for a few minutes, wondering if Stephanie was going to come around and say hello. She had somehow finagled her way into coming this weekend and Chris was looking forward to seeing her. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks since she couldn't get away from school. He was proud that she was such a diligent student. He knew that Stephanie was going to go places.

"Nice job, Jericho."

Chris turned and smiled widely at the compliment from none other than the Heartbreak Kid. "Thanks Shawn, that means a lot."

"I see a lot of potential in you, just don't tell anyone I told you that," he said, and Chris was always surprised at how nice Shawn was to him. A lot of the more seasoned veterans saw him as a stepping stone, someone they could squash and then move on to the bigger feuds. It was frustrating, but at least some people saw the potential in him.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself."

"Good," Shawn laughed, and he probably liked Chris because they weren't that far apart in age and Shawn, though really good, hadn't yet broken in completely. He was popular for sure, but he knew that there were heights he had yet to reach. "See you later, man."

"Yeah, later."

One of the only other people to see the potential in Chris came bounding up to him a few minutes later as he was innocently walking down the hallway to the locker room. She gave him that wide grin that he was starting to love very much, and man was she a sight for sore eyes. Chris had tried the long distance thing once before and it hadn't worked out, but somehow, with Stephanie, it didn't seem so bad. He wanted to kiss her, but since they were in the middle of the hallway, he could just give her a light hug, a friendly hug if you will.

"Eww, you're sweaty," she said, pulling away from him. "You're going to make me smell."

"Spoiled brat," he said affectionately.

"Not nice, Chris, that's so bogus of you," she pouted and he wanted to kiss that pout right off her lips, but he couldn't so he just bit his own lip instead.

"I missed you," he said quietly so only she would hear, gently pulling her into a deserted and dark hallway. "It's been entirely too long since I've seen you."

"We talk all the time though."

"Talking to you is not the same as seeing you in person," he said, rubbing her arm. "How've you been?"

"Chris, you know how I've been," she said flirtatiously.

"I want to know how you're doing _today_," he explained.

"I'm good, now that I've seen you," she said with that grin again. "I missed you too, I might have spent most of the last three weeks writing your name over and over again in my notebook."

"Did you happen to try out your signature if your last name were to suddenly change to Irvine?" he joked.

"No, what do you think I am, 12?" she scoffed. "I was so not doing that, I'm not like a total and complete geekburger."

"You're just too cute for your own good," he said. "So what are you doing tonight? Do you think that you could get away from your parents? I'd love to take you out tonight, especially because I have someone with me this week."

"I could get away. My mom seems really okay with me hanging out with you despite the age difference. I guess she just sees what we already know, that we are like the most perfect couple in the entire universe."

"Those are some lofty standards to live up to," Chris said, shaking his head. "But if you can get away, that'd be totally bitchin' because I definitely want to take you out to dinner. I feel like I haven't gotten to be the over-protective boyfriend that I can be."

She giggled, "I'll ask her."

"Good."

"So who's the person that's with you?"

"Lance," Chris said. "I'd really like you to meet him. I mean, you're my girlfriend, he's my best friend, I think it's only appropriate that you two meet and hopefully get along. If you could just, be serious, completely and utterly boring and serious for one night, you two would hit it off so well."

She shoved him a little, "I have the best personality in the world."

"I know," he said, pulling her into a headlock so as to detract from their obvious flirting lest anyone walk by and start to think that they were suspicious in any way. "I just want him to like you, you know."

"The age thing right?"

"I know that he didn't necessarily care if I was dating someone who couldn't go out drinking with us, but I don't think he thought you'd be quite so under that line."

"I don't like drinking anyways," she said, wrinkling her nose. "But I would definitely love to meet him, if you really want me to."

"I really want you to."

"Then I will," she said, running her hands over his shoulders. "Maybe you should go take your shower now so you don't stink for later. I don't want Lance thinking that I make you spend so much time with me that you can't even bathe."

"Well, if it came to that, I wouldn't bathe for you," he winked.

"You're kooky," she said to him. "I'm going to go ask my mom for permission to go out with you."

"You go do that," he said, and then glanced both ways really quickly before he went ahead and gave her a small peck on the lips. "I'm really glad you're here."

She blushed at that, but turned away before he could see that she was blushing. She hated when she looked like a little kid around Chris, it was very damaging to her ego. She was constantly trying to act older than she was. She knew she was mature, but she hated being this age. It was fine before she met Chris, but now that he was a part of her life, she was constantly wishing that she were born earlier. She wanted to be straightforward and able to call Chris her boyfriend. She waned to walk down the hallway with him and not have to pretend like he was just this big-brother type guy, but the guy she was quickly falling for.

She went to her father's office and opened the door. Her father was out regulating everyone backstage while her mother sat backstage looking over some things for work. Stephanie sat down next to her mother, who turned to her and smiled nicely. "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Linda said, putting the paperwork down so she could put her full attention on her daughter.

"Can I go out to dinner with Chris tonight?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh," Linda said, then nodded, "You can, go ahead and have fun."

"Great, thanks, Mom," Stephanie said brightly.

Linda felt now was as good a time as any to talk to Stephanie about Chris and some other things as well, "You really like him, don't you?"

"Huh?" Stephanie asked incredulously. If her mother knew that she was dating Chris, she was going to be mortified. If her father knew, Chris was going to be dead, plain and simple, dead, deader than a doornail.

"I know you have a crush on him, and I'd wager that's a very big one."

"Oh uh," Stephanie said, relieved that her mother only thought it was an unreciprocated crush. "Yeah, I have a crush on him." There she went with the blushing again.

"Yes, I could tell," Linda said. "Honey, I know it's natural to like someone who works here because you see them all the time, and Chris is a very nice boy, but you have to be prepared in case he's seeing someone else."

"I would be fine with that," Stephanie said, knowing full well that wasn't the case because Chris was with _her_. She didn't like the thought of Chris with someone else, but he couldn't even stop from calling her and pretty much telling her about every female interaction he had when she wasn't around. She wasn't worried that he'd cheat on her.

"Would you? I just don't want you to get your hopes up with this and then find out that he's dating someone. I know that crushes can be a very serious thing. I know that you think that you have all these feelings and to see someone you want to be with actually being with someone else, it's not a very fun time."

"I would, Mom, I really would," she said. "I know that Chris is…I just know what I am in relation to him." She didn't really like lying to her mother, so she skirted around it as much as she could without actually revealing what her secret was. "He saw me as a little sister."

Linda didn't pick up on the use of the past tense and just nodded. "I just don't want you to get your heart broken, honey. You deserve better than that."

"Thanks, Mom, but really, things between Chris and I, they aren't going to get weird. I just…I really like to spend time with him. He's fun to be around."

"I bet," she said. "He's a very handsome, young man. A little bit too old for you though. He's your brother's age."

Stephanie hated age. She just didn't. She hated that everything she was just equated to a number. To other people, everything between her and Chris would be relegated to a number, and that was so frustrating. She was so much more than just seventeen. She knew that people would think that she wasn't capable of adult feelings, but she was very aware of what she felt about certain things. Age does not determine the way that you are around people, or the way that you are, period.

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I just wanted to go have dinner with him and his best friend. Chris invited me because he hasn't seen me in a while, and I guess he wanted me around."

"I think he likes having an ally," Linda said, once again not picking up on anything her daughter was saying.

"So do I," she said. "I'm going to tell him that I can go. Is there any time I should be back in my room by?"

"Ideally, one would be good, but I'll give you some leeway, be sure to tell either me or your father that you're back."

"I will, Mom, thanks," Stephanie said, giving her mother a hug. She practically ran from the room and to the locker room that she knew Chris was sharing with a few different guys. She tried to look nonchalant next to it, but ended up going and sitting on a crate. She felt someone sit next to her and she smiled because she knew that presence. It was quickly becoming one of her favorite presences.

"So?"

"So I can go."


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I know that the age difference can seem kind of weird at times, but I did do my homework on legal ages of consent, not to mention someone I know is twenty-one and dating a seventeen-year-old, granted I can't stand this girl, her age is not the reason why (some of you know who I'm talking about, don't mention her in the review, she may google me at some point and all hell will break loose), but yeah, everything is completely legal in the story, I did my research! Plus, this is really only the first part of the story that will actually set up the actual story later, I know, crazy, 15 chapters and it isn't even the real story I want to get to.

Anyways, enjoy, and review:)

* * *

"Do you really think he'll like me?"

"Yes, I do," he told her. "I mean, you're a really great girl, and I think that he'll be impressed by you, and then be impressed by me and my tastes."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with your taste because you are dating me," Stephanie told him. "My mom thinks I have a crush on you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, she said she understood that I had a crush on you, and that it must be hard liking an older guy who thinks of you as a friend and nothing more. Then she told me that I should be prepared in case you find a girlfriend so that it doesn't break my heart."

He laughed, and asked, "What were you doing during this whole little speech?"

"I was nodding along," she told him. "I mean, what could I really, honestly say to that? 'Well, no, Mom, he's not going to find a girlfriend because he already has a girlfriend, and it's me, your daughter, I'm dating him.' I don't think my mom would've been as understanding had I told her all that."

"Yeah, I guess not," he said. "But you're almost eighteen too. I mean, not really…but you will be eighteen come next year."

"You're so optimistic," she told him, grabbing onto his hand and giving it a squeeze before letting it drop back down again. "She meant well though. She's just trying to spare me from what she thinks would be heartbreak, but uh…we're together so it doesn't matter."

"What was with that uh?" he inquired, looking over at her as they lounged by the indoor pool of the hotel. They weren't in their bathing suits, just regular clothes, but they were splayed out on two loungers at poolside. There wasn't very many people there in the middle of the afternoon, just a couple with their small children splashing around in the shallow end, so they had relative privacy.

"It was nothing, it was just an uh," she told him.

"That was definitely a purposeful uh."

"It was not!" she asserted. "It was just an uh, a pause in my sentence. I was thinking."

"Oh…okay, come on, tell me."

"I was just thinking."

"You said that," he pointed out. "So what exactly were you thinking about? Were you thinking about how great your boyfriend is? How wonderful and nice and cute I am?"

"No, not really," Stephanie said, looking over at him and wiggling her eyebrows a little bit. "I mean, you are those things, I just wasn't thinking them right now."

"But you do think them?"

"Occasionally."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "Glad to know that you only think about me like that occasionally, and here I am, thinking that about you all the time."

"Don't be sweet," she said. "I was just thinking and now I'm saying that if you know, being with me is ever too weird or anything, you can dump me and I'll only spend…three months brooding over it instead of the six I planned."

He shook his head and gazed at her with this expression on his face that one could say was nothing short of serene. His eyes softened as he took her in and he shook his head quietly, saying nothing in that moment and she somehow knew what he meant. She didn't respond either, just letting the silence wash over them like an incoming fog. They let the sound of the children laughing pool around them and let that be the only noise.

"So where's Lance?" Stephanie asked.

"He's a bum," Chris said. "He went out last night with some of the guys that didn't have to work today and they got hammered and he's _still_ sleeping. I tried to get him to wake up earlier, after the show, but it was a no go, he has a headache he says."

"So do you think that he's going to be okay to go out later?" she asked.

"Yeah, he should be, he has to eat at some point, right?" Chris chuckled. "I'll drag his sorry ass out of the bed to get him to come out with us, don't worry. Even if he doesn't, I'll take my girl someplace nice."

"I don't need to go someplace nice," she told him.

"I know, but it's a big thing for me, so it's going to be at least nice to where you shouldn't wear flip flops or anything. But not so fancy you'd need a dress and I'd need a suit because I don't travel with suits, Lance does, I don't."

"He travels with suits?" she giggled.

"I told you before that we are total opposites."

"You sound like it," she told him.

"I should probably go and try to wake him up so he has enough time to freshen up and stuff so he makes a good impression on you. I don't want you to think that I hang out with total losers. Your friends are a reflection of yourself."

"You're cheesy," she told him, venturing to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. "I'll start getting ready too. It takes me longer."

"Don't I know it," he winked as they went their separate ways.

Chris tapped his foot later on as he waited for Lance to get out of the bathroom. "Dude, are you almost done in there? I told Stephanie we'd be there at 7:30 and I don't want to keep her waiting. I don't get to spend enough time with her as it is."

"Why? Does she have an early play-date tomorrow?" Lance snickered.

"Shut up," Chris said. "I swear to God, man, if you make those kind of cracks when you're around her, I'm going to revoke your best friend status."

"Like I really wanted it in the first place," Lance said as he came out of the bathroom. "You should've just let me sleep."

"Hell no," Chris said. "Look, Stephanie and you should meet. I'm sick and tired of the little kid jokes you make around her, so you should know that she's not this little girl that I'm robbing the cradle with. She's actually really cool, and you should see that for yourself."

"You don't need to freaking tell me to worship at her altar."

"I'm not, look, I like her, a lot, so would you please just be nice to her? That's all I'm asking, as a friend, as a fellow member of the Dungeon, will you please just be nice because I know she's nervous to meet you."

"Fine, I'll be nice," Lance said as they left and went down the hallway and to the elevators. "I can't believe her mother would just let her go out with you."

"Her mom thinks that she has a crush on me, and she knows that we're friends. I think that her mom likes the idea of someone there to look out for her daughter since you know, there's a lot of really bad guys in this business," Chris said. "I'm friends with Shane too, so she trusts me because of that."

"Little does she know that you want to get all over her daughter," Lance joked.

"I don't want to get all over her. I'm not in this…look, I really like her, okay, and I'm not just…whatever," Chris said, frustrated now. They got off the elevator on Stephanie's floor and went up to her door, knocking on it and tapping his foot.

Stephanie answered it a moment later and gave Chris a wide grin, "Hey, you're right on time."

"Like I'd be anything else," he told her as he grabbed her hand. "Are your parents around?"

"No, they went out to dinner already," she responded, "so we're in the clear."

"Cool," he said, taking her hand more firmly in his own. He turned to Lance and spoke, "Okay, Lance, this is Stephanie, Stephanie, this is Lance."

"It's really nice to finally meet you," Stephanie said, giving Lance her free hand to shake. "Chris talks about you all the time."

"He talks about _you_ all the time," Lance said, shaking her hand. Stephanie blushed a little bit, and goddamn it, she hated when she blushed in front of Chris. She fought to keep her face normal and instead just turned to smile at Chris.

"Thanks," Stephanie said to him and he nudged her with his shoulder as they all go to walking away towards the elevator.

"So, Stephanie, Chris tells me that you're going to be graduating this year," Lance said as they were walking inside the restaurant. The car ride had mostly been Lance and Chris arguing over who should get to control the radio as Stephanie sat in back watching them fight like little boys.

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

"Where are you going to go to college, do you know yet?"

"Probably Boston University like my brother," Stephanie said. "They haven't sent out acceptance letters yet, but I think I'll get in. So…um yeah, I already have a job here with the company lined up for when I graduate."

"Must be nice," Lance said.

"Yeah, it is," Stephanie said. "Then maybe Chris and I can work together or something, that'd be fun."

"It would," he said as they got seated.

Lance still thought Stephanie was young, even though she didn't look any younger than some of the girls he had met along the way. She definitely looked older than some women he had met here and over in Japan, but she did look young, but Chris was young too. She was certainly nice, a little immature at times, but then very mature at other times. Plus, she knew a ton about wrestling itself, enough to impress even him, though he probably shouldn't have been so impressed since she had grown up around all of this.

"What are you going to do in the company?"

"Well, depends on what I do in college, my dad has talked about putting me in accounting or something to start me off. I'm pretty good with that whole thing, so I don't know yet," she said. "I just kind of want to get through high school first before I decide what I want to do."

"She's radical," Chris said.

Lance couldn't help but notice the way that Chris looked at her. He had never seen that kind of look in Chris's eye before. Plus he couldn't stop smiling. It was really different from the affable, yet cocky guy that he was usually around. It was like Chris changed his whole personality for Stephanie. It wasn't a bad change like he was trying to change who he was, he was just this weird kinder, gentler Chris with her.

"Chris, stop," she told him.

"What, I'm just telling the truth."

"No, you're not, you're just trying to impress me."

"Okay, that too," he flirted with her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and let her lean into him on their side of the booth.

"So Chris, have you thought more about coming to Japan?" Lance asked. "I really think that you should see if you can get some time off here and go over there. It's really good experience. I think you'd have fun."

"I don't know," Chris said, and he was thinking of leaving Stephanie. Going over to Japan, he'd be away from her, far away from her. He didn't know if he wanted that right now. He liked the fact that he could see Stephanie. "I mean, I don't know if Vince would give me time off."

"Sure he would," Stephanie shrugged, knowing that Chris had been talking about this Japan thing for a while. "I could talk him into giving you a few weeks off if Lance can get you booked for a show or something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" she asked. "I mean, it'd probably help, right, get you more experience."

"Listen to the lady," Lance said, finally seeing what Chris saw in Stephanie. She _was_ actually a lot smarter than her years indicated. Okay, so maybe he thought that because she was helping to talk Chris into coming to Japan with him. It got lonely sometimes over there if you didn't have friends to spend your downtime with.

"Okay, well, I guess if that's what you think, both of you," Chris said, but he was looking towards Stephanie when he said it. He leaned in towards her and kissed her temple, whispering in her ear, "I'll miss you if I leave."

She turned so they were facing each other, their foreheads touching as she leaned a little to the left to whisper back, "I'll miss you too, but that's why God invented the telephone."

He smiled, "Okay, well, if you think I should."

"Okay, you two, you're really starting to gross me out."

"Sorry," Chris said as he turned back to his friend.

"So what did you think of her?" Chris asked after they had dropped Stephanie off at her room later on.

"She seems nice, she didn't really talk to me that much."

"You made her nervous."

"She's young."

"I know," Chris said. "But what do you think of her? Like what do you really think of her? Like as a person."

"Well, uh…"

"It's okay, spill it."

"I like her, there I said it, I like her." Chris laughed.

"I knew it."


	16. Chapter 16

Chris cracked his back. He felt much better after that as he was sore today. Last night he had actually had a match against Shawn Michaels. It was a little bit of a dream come true for him. He hadn't gotten to wrestle him yet in his tenure with the company since Shawn was higher up on the totem pole than he was. It hadn't been for Raw or anything, it was a relatively small house show, but it was still pretty exciting and he thought they had put on a good match, stiff, but not too stiff.

Still, that left him especially sore today and he was happy that he didn't have to work today and that most of the day would be spent traveling. He liked the driving. It calmed him and gave him some alone time to think. When he was at the shows or around the guys he hardly had any time to just think for himself. It was always about the wrestling or the costumes or the pageantry of everything. With Raw just about to celebrate its first anniversary next month and Christmas right around the corner, everyone was in more of a frenzy than ever before. Christmas was in a few weeks and he was glad for the time off.

Vince was giving all the wrestlers an entire week off to celebrate Christmas and New Year's. He planned to show a clip show of this first year of Raw to supplement the missing of shows. Even better though was the fact that they were traveling through Canada right now so beyond getting to see his family in a couple weeks, he got to see them later today since they were going to Winnipeg that evening. That's why he was up so early today. He wanted to get there early so he'd have a lot of time to spend with his family. 

He was going to go see his dad and his step-mother first and then he was going to visit with his mom. He hadn't seen her in a while and he was especially anxious to go see how she was doing. Things had been hard since her accident and she still wasn't totally self-sufficient and he occasionally felt like a bad son because his job took him away so often and he wasn't able to be with her as much as he would like. She was strong though, and coping and he was so proud of her for that.

He cracked his neck and got out of bed, grabbing some things to go take a shower and then get dressed and leave. He would grab a cup of coffee and a donut somewhere around the hotel and then be off into the wild Canadian yonder. He was running right on schedule as he pulled his suitcase down to the lobby to go check-out and leave. He was walking towards reception when someone caught his eye.

He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Stephanie hugging Bryan Clark of all people. He scoffed as he stood there, speechless and not knowing exactly how to react. Stephanie pulled away from Bryan and smiled at him and he felt like his veins were filled with burning lava at the moment. He wasn't even aware that Stephanie was here, let alone hugging a guy who obviously had designs on her. Bryan walked away with a smirk that Stephanie couldn't see and she turned to go walk towards the elevators when she spotted Chris.

She walked over, a smile growing on her face as a frown set deeper and deeper into Chris's face. "Chris, hi."

"What were you doing with _him_? What were you doing hugging him!" Chris hissed, trying to keep his voice level considering where they were.

"He gave me a Christmas gift," Stephanie said, "I thought it was nice, so I gave him a hug, what's the problem?"

"What's the problem? Don't you find it a little strange that this guy is giving you Christmas presents? Since when is it his job to give you presents, you guys are barely even friends and he's giving you presents?"

"I don't know, maybe he was just being nice," Stephanie said.

"Oh yeah," he replied snottily, "I'm sure he was just being _nice_. What are you even doing here? You didn't tell me that you were coming down, why wouldn't you tell me that?"

"I was going to surprise you, I got in late last night and I thought it might be suspicious if I were to tell my parents that I was going to come see you in the middle of the night."

"Still, you could've called," he pointed out, though with the way he was sleeping last night, he probably wouldn't have heard the phone ringing at all, and would've been pissed if he had been woken up by the ringing.

"What is your problem, Chris?" Stephanie asked, looking around and making sure that nobody was watching them. They were in the elevator banks so it was a high traffic area and she wished they could discuss this a little more privately. She touched Chris on the arm, but he flinched and pulled back and that hurt her. She was a little more forceful and pushed him towards a corner near a staff entrance.

"Don't touch me," he said, pulling away from her. "Why can't you see that this guy is really bad news?"

"He was being nice, you don't know that there's bad intentions with him," Stephanie told him. "You're not in his head."

"God, you can be such a child," Chris said angrily.

"Excuse me?" Stephanie asked, her voice rising a little bit at the tail end of her question. "What did you just say to me?"

"How can you not see that this guy is an asshole? God, Stephanie, I swear, sometimes you are such a seventeen-year-old. You're just being stupid about this entire thing," he said, and all his frustrations were coming out.

"Wait, so I'm a child _and_ I'm stupid?" she wondered sarcastically. "You're batting a thousand right now, Chris?"

"Oh good, maybe it'll get through your thick skull."

"I can talk to whoever I want to talk with, you know," Stephanie said. "I'm not a child, in case you hadn't noticed, and it seemed like you didn't because you just called me one. You weren't calling a child when you were making out with me."

"Well, maybe I shouldn't date you anymore then," he said in haste. "Maybe we'd both be better off. There are a million and one girls who I can date, Stephanie."

"There are a million and one guys _I_ can date, Chris," she countered. Neither one was backing down from each other and both sets of blue eyes were flashing at the other. 

"Fine, fine, if that's what you want, fine," he said, "I've got to go, you're throwing me off schedule anyways. I've got places to be, _Princess_, so I can't be bothered trying to teach you something."

"Oh, funny, because I'm still in high school, I get it, ha ha," she glared at him angrily as he walked away, pulling his suitcase angrily. He had to check out and get on the road. He went to the line to check out and he was fuming. He didn't even glance back at Stephanie, so she could've left and he wouldn't have known it.

He hated Bryan. That guy was such a dick. He just wanted to use Stephanie and it pissed him off that she couldn't see. So if she didn't want to see it, fine, he would just let her not see it. Let her make her own decisions. She could be so naïve sometimes and it frustrated him. Maybe they were better off dating other people. She could be with someone her age and he could be with someone closer to his age, someone who could drink at the very least.

The line was taking forever and he was starting to wonder if he and Stephanie had just broken up. He had said that she could date other people if she wanted, but that wasn't an official break up. Did he want to break up with her now? He'd have to find her at the next show. What was she even doing here in the first place, she had school that she needed to attend. It dawned on him a moment later that she was probably on Christmas vacation. Whatever, he'd think about this entire thing on the drive up to Winnipeg.

He finally got to check out and went to his rental car. He was looking for his keys in his pockets and didn't notice that anyone was near his car. He looked up and was almost knocked back in shock as he saw Stephanie standing against his car. She was all bundled up and was staring down at the ground as she held her arms around her middle trying to keep warm in the bitter winter air. He ignored her for the most part and stuck his suitcase in the trunk before closing it and turning to her.

"Get off my car, I have to go."

"Chris…"

"I said, get off my car," he told her.

"I don't want to be mad at you," she told him. "It's dumb."

"Look, okay, maybe this…whatever between us, maybe the age thing is getting to us," he told her, and he wasn't even sure if he believed that.

"Oh, so you do think I'm a kid then?" she said and he could hear the hurt in her voice a million miles away. "Okay…fine then."

Something inside Chris hurt when he knew she was hurting. "Steph…"

"Say no more," she said, shaking her head, her long hair swishing around her face and partially obscuring her face.

"No, Steph, come here," he said, looking around quickly before taking her in his arms. "I'm sorry, I just worry about you, you know. I didn't mean to call you a kid, you're not a kid."

She hugged him back. "I'm sorry I wasn't listening to what you were saying."

"I just…"

"I know, you worry, but I'm level-headed," Stephanie said. "Don't you think so?" 

She pulled away to look at him. He sighed and nodded, "You're a lot smarter than me most of the time actually."

She grinned at that, "So fight over?"

"Yeah, fight over," he said. "You were going to surprise me?"

"Yeah, I was," she said. "I'm on Christmas vacation right now and so I'm traveling with the company until you all get the holidays off. With my mom traveling with my dad, I don't think they wanted me to stay at home by myself for two weeks and of course my parents see this as a vacation for me. I wasn't going to argue though because I get to be around you."

"I'm glad you are," he told her truthfully. "Bryan just…he just wants you for bad reasons, the reasons that your dad doesn't want you dating guys like me."

"Okay, I will take that into consideration," she said, which was all she was going to budge. He liked her a little bit more for her gumption in the moment. "So you're leaving already? Can I catch up with you at the hotel?"

"I'm not staying at a hotel," he explained. "We're going to be in Winnipeg for the next couple of days and I'm staying with my dad and step-mom."

"Oh yeah," she said, "because you're from Winnipege, duh, Stephanie."

He laughed and looked around again before kissing her forehead. He was lucky that he was leaving earlier than everyone else so he could talk to Stephanie. Otherwise he'd never be able to hold her or kiss her like this. "But we'll see each other."

"Yeah," she said. "I wish I could drive with you to Winnipeg…maybe I can."

"Steph, don't you think that would be pushing it. I know that your mother thinks that you have a crush on me, and that's all well and good, but I mean, driving with me for a few hours, I don't know if your parents would go for that."

"You're right, it might draw suspicion and my dad would probably throw a fit. I wish I could though," she lamented.

"Well, when are you guys leaving?"

"Soon," she said. "My parents were just grabbing breakfast and then checking out and we're leaving."

"Well, I'm going to be at my dad's for most of the afternoon, let me give you the phone number and when you get there you can call me and I'll come pick you up and we'll go do something."

"What were your plans originally?"

"Well, I was going to go visit my dad and step-mom and then go see my mom and spend the evening with her before you know, I had to leave and go back to my dad's and then sleep and you know, those were my plans."

"Oh, I don't want to take you away from seeing your parents, we can just see each other tomorrow," Stephanie said. "It's been a while since you've seen them, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I hardly get to see _you_," he said. 

"It's okay, Chris," she told him, shaking her head, "we'll see each other a lot over the next couple of weeks so it's all good."

"I guess…"

"Chris, it's okay, I really don't mind," she told him, pulling away as the time started to get later and people would start coming out to leave. "I'm probably throwing you way off schedule, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind."

"Go ahead and go."

"Hey, how about you call me when you get there, and I'll just kind of…um, bring you with me while I do the stuff that I was going to do."

"You mean…meet your parents?" she asked, her eyes becoming a little frightened at the prospect.

"Just hang out while I visit them," he said. "Maybe just my mom, I don't really know."

"I don't know, Chris, it's not like you can introduce me as your girlfriend."

"Why not?"

"Because…_because_."

"My mom wouldn't know how old you are," he shrugged, "it's not like you show up on television or anything."

"True," she said. "Still, I just don't know. I mean, I don't want to take away from your visit with your parents, and Chris, I'm seventeen, if your parents find out, they could tell my parents, and then you'd be dead, I'd be grounded until I'm 35, and nothing good can come of that."

He laughed, "Steph, trust me, you can pass for twenty."

"You're playing with fire, Chris," Stephanie said, shaking her head.

"Come on, I'll make it worth your while."

"How?"

"I'll take you out to dinner. You don't have to, I just haven't seen you in a few weeks, and I really missed you, despite who you've hugged. So I would like to spend time with you, but I do want to spend time with my parents."

"Well, okay, maybe, maybe I can just go see your mom with you. Does she watch the show? Because I look like my dad, you know, people say that I'm my father's daughter, whatever that means, of course I'm his daughter, but she could be able to tell."

"When my mom watches Raw, she watches for _me_, not your dad," he told her sweetly.

"Still, she could recognize me…or something."

"Because you've been on the show how many times over the last year?"

"Zero."

"She won't know, and who's she going to tell? Her nurses?"

"Fine, I guess, I _do_ want to spend time with you too," she relented. 

"Yes!"

"Stop."

"Call me, okay."

"Okay."


	17. Chapter 17

"Mom, can I go out with Chris? He just called and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out."

"Oh," Linda said, coming into the other room where Stephanie was sitting next to the hotel phone, having just hung it up after talking in quiet tones with Chris. He was over at his father's house right now, but there was only so much he could do there without getting bored. He wanted to show her around the city and spend some time with her. "Is he here in the hotel?"

"He's from Winnipeg, he's with his dad and step-mom right now," Stephanie explained. "He could pick me up, he knows the city well, he grew up here."

"Honey," Linda said, her voice trailing off as she sat down next to her daughter. Stephanie threw her eyes heavenward as she could feel there was some sort of lecture on the way.

"What is it, Mom?" Stephanie said, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"Well…don't you think that you're spending an awful lot of time with Chris?" Linda asked delicately, not wanting her daughter to launch into one of her famous temper tantrums. She didn't kick and scream, but she got very ornery and would lose her temper quite quickly.

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked rationally and that was a new one for Linda. She was starting to think that her daughter was really growing up when in fact, it was probably one of the effects that Chris had on her. He was so much more mature than she was, or at least that was how she felt, and she constantly felt like she had to run to keep up with him, metaphorically speaking. It was obviously rubbing off on her.

"He's older than you, sweetheart, and I know that you have a crush on him, but let's look at it from his perspective."

"His perspective?" she parroted.

"Don't you think that you should give him some space? He's older, he probably has…other interests that aren't you, and I just think that maybe you should give him some space. I know you like him, sweetheart, but I don't want your heart to get broken and the more time that you spend with him, the more you'll fall."

"What if…what if he liked me too?" Stephanie asked tentatively, trying to gauge her mother's reaction to the thought of her daughter dating someone older.

"Oh, well, I think he's a little too old for you," Linda said, "He's your brother's age."

"I know, but like, he could like me, I'm not a total goober, Mom, he could."

"Yeah, I suppose he could, but let's be honest here, Stephanie, he's a wrestler and older than you. You know what your father and I have told you about wrestlers."

"Be wary," Stephanie droned. "Because a lot of them will use you for your name and they'll take advantage of you, and it's just a generally good idea to stay away from wrestlers altogether…but Mom, Chris is my friend, that's it, I mean, there's no way he'd look at me like that. He just wants to hang out with me."

"Don't you think it's strange that he wants to hang out with you?" Vince asked from the doorway.

"Strange?" Stephanie asked. "How is it strange?"

"Because you're 17 years old," Vince said. "Why does he want to hang out with a teenager, especially a teenager that is my daughter?"

"Because he's the youngest guy in the company," Stephanie explained. "He hangs out with Shane too, Dad, remember? We all hang out because Chris is Shane's age, and he's kind of near my age."

"There are guys his age here."

"Yeah, and he hangs out with them too. He just hangs out with me, plus he knows I get really bored just hanging out with you, and you don't like me hanging out with any of the women around here, so who am I supposed to hang out with?"

"Your mother," he said sternly.

"She's got a point, Vince," Linda said, looking at her husband. "We can't keep her with us, she'll be bored to death and we're making her travel most of her Christmas vacation with the company, go ahead, honey, you can go out with him."

"Linda!"

"Vince, shut up," Linda told him, "I told her she could go and she may go."

"Thanks, Mom," Stephanie said, giving her mother a peck on the cheek. She rushed out of the room, giving her father a similar peck on his cheek as she went to an empty room to call Chris back and tell him to come pick her up. Vince walked into the room a little further and looked down at his wife.

"Vince, we have to let her figure her own things out."

"What if he's using her?"

"We both know he's not. She likes him, Vince, let's just let it run its course. She'll get over the crush and it'll be fine, we just need to let it run its course and it will. Be patient."

"You know I hate that," he said good-naturedly.

"I know, but just do it for her."

Chris pulled up in a car that didn't look like a rental and Stephanie got inside and put on her seatbelt. She just smiled at Chris and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze before he shifted the car into gear and drove off. When they were turning onto the street, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She had wanted to make sure that it was safe to kiss him.

"Whose car is this?" she asked him.

"My dad's, he's letting me use it," he said. "I told him that I was going to go pick up a friend and maybe she could come over for dinner."

"Now who sounds like they're in high school?" she teased him.

He laughed and looked at her, "So I was thinking that I could show you around and then we could visit my mom and then have dinner at my dad's."

"Sounds good," she said brightly, just wanting to spend time with him. She didn't care what they did as long as he was there with him.

"I'm not going to tell my parents exactly what you are though, are you okay with that?" he asked her, glancing at her worriedly. "I just told them that you were a friend and my boss's daughter, at least that's what I told my dad and my step-mom, and what I was going to tell my mom, does that offend you?"

"No," she told him, "I understand. Besides, I'll be 18 in September anyways, and we'll be fine then."

She knew she was being presumptuous, planning out a future that was far away and might not ever come, but she couldn't help it. She loved being with Chris and she knew she was falling deeply with him. She had never really been in love, so she didn't know what it was exactly, but this felt something like how she thought it might be. Thinking of the future only brought her thoughts of Chris, and she knew some people would said that was her naïveté, but she knew what she felt, 17 or not.

"So we're going to be together when you're 18?" he asked slyly.

"Yeah," she said with a definitive nod of the head. He looked at her and gave her a smirk. "What, you don't think we will?"

"I didn't say that, I just wonder what the hell your dad is going to think of that?"

"He's not the boss of me," she told him.

"He's the boss of _me_ though."

"He wouldn't do anything to you, I'd make sure of that."

"No favors."

"No, just that he wouldn't fire you over it," she told him.

"Okay, good. So come on, let me show you Winnipeg."

Chris's idea of showing her Winnipeg was showing her what amounted to a driving tour of Chris's life. He showed her his old elementary school, his high school, the community college where he took classes, where he worked, where he worked _out_, restaurants he liked growing up. Stephanie just kind of sat there and giggled, making fun of him for showing her all of these things when Winnipeg probably had a lot of other things, but no, they had to see the significant parts of Chris's life.

"Wow, so _that _was your favorite restaurant when you were 12?" Stephanie asked, pretending to be in awe.

"Shut up, I liked pancakes a lot," he told her as they pulled into the parking lot of a three-story structure. Stephanie hadn't seen the sign for where they were, but she had an idea. Chris caught her looking up at the building and he looked up at it too. "This is where my mom is, assisted living."

"Oh," Stephanie said, figuring that's what it was. She didn't say anymore as she climbed out of the car, Chris following close behind her as he took her hand in his. He pulled her back a little bit to lean against him and he kissed her properly. She kissed him back, sliding as close as was appropriate for a parking lot in the middle of Winnipeg.

"I think my mom will like you," he said, and he didn't even know if that was true, but he was in a dreamy mood after kissing his girlfriend, so he was just saying whatever came to mind.

"You're just saying that," she said, catching onto his mood immediately.

Chris walked into the building and towards the front desk where all visitors had to check-in and get a badge saying they were visitors. A lot of Chris's money went to this place to make sure his mother had the best care possible. He and Stephanie signed in and grabbed a badge, clipping them onto their jeans as Chris lead Stephanie around the hallways and up a flight of stairs to a rather large and cheery room, decorated with pictures of Chris. She kind of wanted to live in the room now too.

"Mom?"

"Chris, is that you?"

"You knew I was coming, Mom," Chris said in a tone that Stephanie had never heard before. She guessed it was reserved for his mommy. His mother was sitting in her chair, watching television and Chris felt like he was jumping out of his skin to see her, pulling Stephanie along so much that they broke contact and he went towards his mom and hugged her tightly.

"You're too much," she told him affectionately. She turned her head and saw a young woman standing there, trying to remain inconspicuous. "Girlfriend?"

"Um, no," Chris said quickly, and his mother picked up on that immediately as mothers are wont to do. "This is my friend, Stephanie. Her father is my boss, Vince McMahon, remember, I told you about him."

"Oh yeah, the guy that has seen fit to employ my wayward son," she joked.

Stephanie laughed at that, "It's really nice to meet you, Ms. Irvine."

"Call me Loretta, everyone does," she said sweetly. "So what're you two up to?"

"Stephanie is with her parents for her winter vacation from school, and she gets bored with nobody to hang out with and we hang out together a lot so here we are. I'm going to take her to Dad's later for dinner."

"Oh, are you now?" she asked. "Stephanie, what are you majoring in?"

"Oh, um, nothing," Stephanie said sheepishly, "I'm a senior in high school. But um, I'm waiting to see what colleges I got into. I'll probably go where my older brother goes, he's Chris's age."

"I see," Loretta said, shooting a look to Chris, but he wasn't looking at his mother, instead studying the pictures that were on her walls.

"I should get you a more recent picture," he said, looking at the old pictures of him.

"Wow, you're so young," Stephanie said, looking at the pictures behind her. She stared at a framed picture of Chris in a little plaid suit straight out of the 70's and she laughed and how silly he looked as a young boy.

Chris caught eyes with his mother and she beckoned him with hers. He knelt by her chair and gave her a quick kiss to the cheek, but that didn't deter her. "Christopher…is there something you want to tell me?" she whispered.

"What?" he asked.

"Stephanie…"

"Is my friend," he finished for her. "She's a friend, I like her, she's cool. I'm friends with her brother too."

"Chris, are you reading in the pool?" Stephanie asked as she glanced back at him.

"Shut up, I was a reader when I was a kid," he told her good-naturedly.

"That's funny, most kids usually, you know, swim," she giggled as she walked to the far side of the room to look at more pictures of him, these from middle school when he was so gawky and weird-looking that no girl would want him at all.

"You know what I mean, Chris," his mother said, "don't play me for a fool, here, she's not here because she's just your friend."

"It's not what you think, Mom," he told her.

"How long have you been seeing her?"

Chris buckled under the scrutinizing eye of his mother, he looked down, and then up at her, "About four months."

"Oh, and you haven't touched her, please tell me you haven't touched her, Chris."

"I haven't touched her, Ma," he said to her. "I wouldn't…you don't understand how much I care about her."

His mother looked at him for a moment and saw that he was genuine and sighed, "Chris,…I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"Love me?" he said impishly.

"You're glad I give you that."

Chris and Stephanie stayed with his mother for another hour, Loretta relating stories of Chris's childhood to Stephanie, who seemed to hang on every word. Loretta said no more about Chris's obvious relationship with Stephanie, though she took note of the way they looked at each other and frowned slightly. She couldn't tell her son what to do, but he was treading on very fine ice here. They were walking out of the building when Chris pulled Stephanie into his side.

"My mom knew we were together."

"Oh…my parents think I'm in too deep," she confessed. "My dad didn't want me to see you tonight. But my mom is all for it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't really know what she's playing at, but I figure that she has a reason, I just haven't figured it out yet."

"Oh, well, that's good, I guess."

"I wouldn't worry though, nobody knows about us, we're fine."

"Yeah, we're fine."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone and please keep them coming. :)

* * *

"Have you thought about it more?"

"Thought about what?" Chris asked as he pushed his French fry through the ketchup on his plate. He had no idea what Lance was asking about.

"Japan," Lance said and though his tone of voice didn't change, Chris could tell that he was incredulous that Chris hadn't had his mind constantly on it.

"Japan?"

"Yes, going to Japan, wrestling over there. Remember, I brought it up with you."

"Oh yeah, I remember," Chris said. "Sorry, I haven't really thought about it. I'm still under contract with the WWF so I'd have to ask permission to go over there, you know, I don't know if Vince would grant me the time."

"What the hell are you doing on the show that requires you to be there every week?" Lance asked him. "You're not getting a huge push or anything so you really don't need to be around there anymore, do you?"

"No, not at the moment though, but I'm still trying to earn my place, it's not going to come overnight, I knew that," Chris said and he had known that going in. He wasn't regretting his time with the WWF, not at all. It seemed more like Lance was missing his buddy while he was on the road.

"Still, you could get a lot more experience under your belt, you could ask him."

"You just want me to go with you to Japan because Tina can't go with you because of her job. That's what this is about, isn't it?"

"What? No, that's not what this is about."

"Of course it's what this is about," Chris said. "You just don't want to be lonely over there, and it's like, if you really want me to go, tell me the truth about it."

"I'm not just asking you because I want someone there with me," Lance told him. "But that is part of the reason. It gets lonely over there, yes, so yeah, I'd like my best friend to be out there."

"I don't know."

"Is this because of Stephanie?" Lance asked.

"Why would it be because of Stephanie?" Chris asked. "Why would this have anything to do with her? This has nothing to do with her. She would support me if I went to Japan."

"I know she would, she said as much, didn't she?" Lance said, remembering a conversation where Stephanie was all for him going to Japan and wrestling. Lance had to give Stephanie a lot of credit, she wanted what was best for Chris and she wasn't selfish about it. He figured that had a lot to do with the fact she had grown up in the business and she knew what opportunities were out there for wrestlers and that Japan was a big hub for wrestling.

"Yeah, she did…so?"

"So she doesn't have a problem with it."

"It's not about Stephanie."

"Plus, she's graduating in a few months, right?"

"Yeah, in May."

"So you'll be back in time for that and you guys can spend a lot more time together because she's moving out for college, right?"

"Yeah, she is," Chris said, thinking to the conversation he and Stephanie had had a few days earlier. She had just gotten accepted into Boston University and she was going to follow in her brother's footsteps and go there. This was good for them because that meant they wouldn't be under her parent's noses as much and they could spend some actual quality time together and maybe, with time, they could actually publicly state their relationship.

"So you'll see her."

"This isn't about her."

"You know it is," Lance told her. "Do you love her?"

"I don't know," Chris said. He did know on some level though. There was something about Stephanie that he had never felt before. He was hesitant to call it love because he had never really been in love before, or didn't think he had been. He didn't really know what love was because he had never experienced it before, but he had a good idea what it was like, and it was starting to feel like that feeling he envisioned.

"Well, are you going to any time soon?"

"Shut up," Chris said. "Look, it's not about her at all."

"So tell me why you can't go," Lance prompted him.

"I don't know…I guess I just don't know why."

"Then you should."

"Maybe."

"Come on, Chris, think about it, will you?"

"Okay, okay, I'll think about it," Chris said.

Later that night, Chris was still thinking about it. In fact, it was keeping him up and he sighed. He put his arm over his eyes, trying to block out all the thoughts racing through his brain, but it wasn't working, all it was doing was making everything even darker and not allowing his eyes to focus on anything. He took his arm away and put it back at his side. He looked at the clock and he had not even been in bed that long. The minutes seemed to be taking extra long to pass and it was torture for him.

Why couldn't he go to Japan?

He was lying to himself partly, because he knew a large part of this had to do with Stephanie. As long as he was with the WWF, he had access to her, he could see her and talk to her and hang out with her under the pretense that they were friends, that she was just the boss's daughter and had nobody else to hang out with. Nobody came with them when they were out so nobody saw the making out or the holding hands that denoted them as a couple. They could be together.

If he went to Japan, even if it was under WWF's dime, he'd miss her. He wouldn't get to see her and long-distance things just didn't work in his estimation. Sure, there were some people who could do it, like Lance and Tina, but he just didn't want a relationship where he wouldn't get to see the person. It was already bad enough that he hardly got to see Stephanie now. He couldn't even imagine what it was like being halfway across the world from her and that was what was really holding him back in all of this.

He turned over on his side and picked up the phone from its receiver and dialed Stephanie's private line. He knew it was late, but chances were that she was still up this late on a Saturday night. Hopefully she was at home though, he thought for a moment. She could very well be out with some friends and not in bed like an old woman.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Chris, hey," Stephanie said brightly. "I wasn't expecting you to call."

"What if I went to Japan?"

"You'd go to Japan," Stephanie said nonchalantly, "I'm not sure what you're getting at here, are you going?"

"Lance brought it up again. He's lonely over there, I think he wants a friend and apparently that friend is me."

"Oh, well, it's a good opportunity," Stephanie told him. "Does Lance like it over there?"

"What do you think? You just heard me go on about how he wants a friend over there. I'm sure the wrestling is pretty good, but I don't know, maybe it's not and he just wants to drag me down with him. He was asking me what I was doing that was so important in the WWF that I couldn't come over to Japan for a while."

"Well, that's true a little," Stephanie said. "You could gain some experience."

"I guess," he said, "what are you doing?"

"Homework."

"On a Saturday night?"

"I'm going out tomorrow. My parents are dragging me to one of their friend's houses, some anniversary, 30th or something like that and I don't know how long I'm going to be there. My dad is probably going to introduce me to some nice, young men."

"Yeah?"

"He got started on it tonight. He was talking about how some of them are college men now and since I'm going into college how it would be nice if I met them and how they could 'tell me what to expect' when I leave at the end of this summer and it's so stupid of him. He is so lame. I wanted to just like totally tell him I was already with someone."

"That'd be bad."

"I know, I refrained. He's totally just doing it because he wants me to get with some rich boy and lead a rich life as a rich, snobby, valley girl woman," Stephanie said with distaste. "I don't think he really wants me to work in the company, he thinks I'm fragile or something."

"You're not fragile."

"Well I know that and you know that, but he doesn't know that, I'm still his little, widdle baby girl who can't do anything but suck on her bottle all day long," Stephanie said sarcastically, which set a terrifying picture in Chris's head.

"Can we please not reference you as a baby," he said, shuddering.

"Sorry," she said, "it doesn't matter though. Because I'm going to go to college and then we'll be together more and I won't be afraid to say that I have a boyfriend your age and eventually I'll just tell my dad that we got together and what's the worst he can do, he can't do anything because I'll be an adult."

"Well…"

"Well what?"

"He's my boss."

"You have a contract, he can't fire you."

"He could."

"Why?"

"For dating you."

"No, you could just, like, take him to court or something."

"That probably only works on TV."

"No, don't be lame, Chris, it works in real life. Besides, you're not even that old, it's not like you're some old dude who's like, totally old and hunched over with like a hump or something."

"Well, thank you for not calling me the hunchback of Notre Dame," Chris told her.

"You know what I mean."

"I know, I just think it's not going to be as simple as you make it out to be."

He could just picture Vince firing him if he found out that Chris was dating Stephanie. What if they did come out publicly and Vince found out they had been dating since Stephanie had just turned 17? He would kill him, he'd have him blacklisted and Chris would never be able to do what he loved. He feared that it would come down to a decision between his career and Stephanie and he didn't know which one he'd choose. His brain was telling him that he would have to have a career if he wanted to eat and live, but his heart was telling him that without Stephanie, he wouldn't be able to breathe.

Then there was the idea that Stephanie might have to choose between him and her family if her father became so incensed about their relationship and what would Stephanie choose? She had never told him she loved him and that was fine, but it did create a bit of apprehension as to which way she'd go if the decision was pressed on her. She had grown up with immense privilege and he couldn't imagine her leaving that, leaving all that, for him. It was just the fact of the matter.

"Well duh," Stephanie said, "but we'll make it work. I know we will. Besides, my parents are not going to like, follow me around or anything. They wouldn't hire some PI to trail me, I think they trust me."

"I hope so."

"You should totally just like, move to Boston and then I'll live with you."

"Yeah, your parents would really go for that."

"I'd tell them I was in the dorm," Stephanie said. "That way we could see each other all the time, like all the time, you'd get sick of me."

"Hardly possible."

"Oh, that just totally got you points on the boyfriend scale of totally radical," Stephanie told him playfully. "But we'll make it work, I'm positive of this, and if you want to go to Japan, we'll make it work then too."

"You sound so sure of yourself."

"Of course I do, I know what's what."

"I really hope so."

"I know so."


	19. Chapter 19

Chris felt a snowball against the back of his head and he turned to hear the giggles from Stephanie behind him. He glared at her, but she just kept giggling. He rolled his eyes and continued to talk to Shane. Stephanie picked up another snowball and aimed it at her brother and hit him right on the neck. He turned a bright shade of red as he turned to his little sister.

"Stephanie, would you cut that the hell out?" he yelled at her.

"What?" she asked. "You guys are being really boring. All you're doing is talking and you're ignoring me."

"I'm discussing business here," Shane said. "You wouldn't understand because you're just in high school."

"Hey, you know what, I'm graduating in like five months and then I'm going to be going to college and you're not going to be able to use that line anymore," she told him.

"I'll just say that you wouldn't understand because you're just in college since I'm getting out of there," Shane said, smiling at her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, coming over and putting her hands on Shane's shoulder and jumping up and down, trying to get himself warm. She looked over at Chris and smiled slightly unbeknownst to her brother. She was going back to school next Monday and she was sad that she wouldn't be able to spend more time with Chris. She liked when they got to feel like a real couple. Chris smiled back at her and his look softened.

"I was telling your brother about my friend, Lance," Chris said.

"Oh," Stephanie said, "what about him?"

"Chris was just saying how he was in Japan and I was talking about how I've been watching a little more Japanese stuff, it's cool, but so different, you know, with the no cheering and stuff like that, but I really like the style."

"Yeah, I do too," Chris said. "I think I could really learn a lot over there."

"I should watch this stuff," Stephanie said, wanting to feel like she was in the loop.

"I'll lend you some tapes," Chris told her and she nodded eagerly. "That way you can impress your dad with your incredible knowledge."

"If only," Stephanie scoffed. "My dad is never going to take me seriously."

"She just says that," Shane said, "but our dad is foaming at the mouth for Stephanie to join the company. She's going to be the golden girl, the most wonderful person in the entire company and our dad is going to breed her to take over."

"You sound bitter, man," Chris said with a laugh.

"Slightly," Shane joked back. "I'm okay with it."

"Sure you are," he said.

"Anyways, I told my dad I'd go on a scouting thing with him so I better go, can I trust you to look after my sister?" Shane asked.

"I think you can," Chris told him mock-seriously.

"Good, I'll see you guys later, we'll have dinner or something," Shane said.

"Rad," Chris said as Shane walked back into the lobby. "So, Miss Stephanie…"

"Yes?" she asked coyly, giving him that winning grin of hers. She was dressed warmly, a headband over her head and then a beanie pulled over that with pink earmuffs, scarf, mittens, the whole nine yards. She looked so sweet with the white backdrop of the freshly fallen snow. It was like something out of a Rockwell painting. "What are you staring at?"

"You look really pretty today," he told her genuinely and he meant it. She grinned at him. She always loved a compliment, no matter who it came from, but it was especially nice to hear those words from her boyfriend.

"Thanks," she told him, beaming.

"Turn around, give me a little swirl so I can take in all your prettiness," he said charmingly.

"You're so silly," Stephanie said, but then proceeded to twirl so Chris could check her out. She did it playfully, doing a silly, little dance for Chris, nothing sexual, just funny and sweet.

She turned around and got a face full of snow. She gasped at the cold and couldn't see as the snow slid down her forehead, heating up quickly into tiny droplets as it fell to the front of her jacket and then back to the ground from whence it came. She closed her eyes and mouth, but could still hear Chris laughing at her uproariously. She fumed and nearly growled as she wiped her face with her mitten-covered hand.

"Chris!"

"You deserved it," he told her. "You threw one at me."

"I'm going to get you," she yelled at him. She reached down and grabbed some snow, hurling it in Chris's direction. He ducked out of the way and grabbed some snow and started to throw it at her.

They ran around the small grounds, grabbing snow and trying to hit the other one with it. They were laughing and trying to grab the other. At one point, Stephanie tried to grab Chris and shove snow down his shirt. He grabbed her in a headlock and laughed as they fell into a drift of snow.

"I'm soaking," Stephanie said sadly.

"You want to go dry off?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said as Chris got up and helped her up. They rushed inside and up to Chris's room. He helped her with her jacket and threw it on the couch. He took his own jacket off and threw it next to hers. "Your jeans are soaked, did you want to take them off?"

"Chris," she said, blushing deeply.

"Oh, sorry," he said, shaking his head, "that's not what I meant. I figure if…I'm not even going to go there."

"No, finish your thought," she prompted.

"Nothing."

"It's something."

"I'm not going to argue with you while we're dripping wet," he told her. "We're both going to get sick."

"Then just tell me."

"Fine," he said, exasperated by her. "I was just going to say if I wanted to get you into bed, which…you know, is not what this relationship is about, I wouldn't do it like such a goober. I would be a little smoother and not a total geek about it."

"That's sweet," she said. "So what did you really mean?"

"I meant did you want to a pair of my pajama pants? I have a couple you can change into, or a pair of my boxers if you want, if you think you'll be hot in my pants," he said, stumbling over his words a little bit. He did think of Stephanie as a woman, he couldn't help it because that's what she was, but he wasn't into pressuring her to do anything.

"I'll take some pants," she said.

He went to his suitcase and grabbed a pair of pants and went back over to her and handed them to her. She contemplated, for a slim moment, just dropping her pants right here and putting on his pants. Chris had seen her in a bathing suit and she didn't see the difference between her underwear and a bathing suit. Still, they were in a hotel room and it just didn't seem really right to just change in front of him.

"Is your shirt wet?" he asked her, stepping a little closer.

"No, it's fine, my jacket shielded me from your bogus assault," she told him playfully. "I'm just…going to go change in the bathroom."

"Yeah, sure, of course," he said as he pointed towards it, like her room didn't look exactly like his. "I'll just change out here."

"Okay," she said, disappearing through the door.

He quickly changed his shirt (which was wet) and put on another pair of his pajama pants and just fell against the bed. He had wrestled the night before and standing out in the cold for so long had stiffened his joints and falling into the snow hadn't helped matters any. He closed his eyes until he heard the door to the bathroom opening. Stephanie stepped out, hiking up his pants because they were too big for her. He opened his eyes and laughed at her.

"Too big?"

"You think?" she said sarcastically.

"Come here," he said, opening her arms.

She came over and lay down next to him, kissing him properly. "I wanted to do that earlier, but couldn't."

"Us, on a bed, kissing, I think I like," he joked and she shoved his chest playfully as she rested her head against his shoulder. They stayed quiet for a few moments, just enjoying the chance to be a real couple for a little while. "So I've been thinking really hard about the Japan thing."

"I figured since you were talking to my brother about it."

"Yeah and I think I'm definitely going to go. Lance has already talked to the promoter he's working for and there's a sure spot for me. It's pretty much a done deal."

"Okay," she said. "If you want to go, I told you, you could."

"I know you did. Which factored into the decision, believe me," he said. "I thought about you while making the decision."

"You didn't have to," she informed him. "I mean, you don't have to think about me like in the decision. I don't mind you not thinking about me."

"But you're my girlfriend."

"This is your career though. I want what's best for you…see, look at me being all like mature and stuff," she giggled. "I'm showing you that I'm thinking of you first."

"Well I was thinking of you first."

"No fair, I get to think of you first," she told him, kissing his cheek. "I want you to be the best wrestler ever, the best, best, best, best, best. To do that, maybe you need to go to Japan. It's okay, you can think of yourself first."

"You shouldn't be this unselfish, it's making me look bad," he told her, grabbing her hand. "I'm supposed to be the great boyfriend in this."

"Well, I'm totally taking that away from you, I want this for you, I really do," she told him. "I care about you."

"I care about you too," he responded.

In fact, if pressed, he would say that he more than cared about her, but she was still so young so he didn't know if these feelings were real or because Stephanie was the first girl he ever clicked with. The other women he dated hadn't been into wrestling, but Stephanie was different, for obvious reasons. He didn't want to take that plunge just yet, or ever, he didn't know what he was going to do about his increasing feelings.

"So go."

"You really think I should?"

"Oh my God, you are like, totally bugging out," Stephanie told him. "Just go for it, don't be afraid, seriously, don't be like a total baby about the entire thing. You're a great wrestler, I've seen it with my own eyes and you getting better can only be a good thing."

"Stop believing in me so much."

"No," she teased.

"It's nice though, to have someone believe in you. I believe in you too, for what it's worth."

"Oh yeah, believe I'll what? Get A's on all my finals?" she kidded.

"No, that you're going to do exactly what Shane said earlier."

"Oh," she said, "I guess we'll see with that. It remains to be seen whether or not my father would actually take me seriously. But we'll see."

"You'll be great."

"Will you be there with me?" she asked.

"Oh, this is where this is going?"

"It's going nowhere," she protested, slapping him on the arm.

"Oh well, you're asking about the future."

"It's just a question!"

"Okay, maybe, maybe I see me with you."

"That's all I wanted to know."

"So I'm going to request an appointment with your dad," Chris said, "bring it up with him and see what his thoughts are on this. I still don't really know what, if anything, this would have to do with this company, but I guess I could go over there and represent them."

"See, you do have ideas. My dad will agree."

"You think so?"

"He'd be stupid not to."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hey, so like, adult themes ahead! Anyways, just a heads up, I've researched like, age of consent and stuff and a lot of states, 17 is the age of consent, just in case people were like, squicked out. Sorry if you are, but yeah, it's all totally legal and stuff, thanks.

* * *

Chris had sat on the idea of Japan for a few months, just to see how he would feel about leaving. Stephanie kept encouraging him, Lance kept pushing him, but he had to make this decision for himself and he finally felt like he knew what he wanted to do. The deal with WWF was lucrative, but experience was everything in this business and he needed to take care of that first.

Chris knocked on Vince's hotel room door. He wished this could be in a more formal, office setting, but he understood Vince was a busy man and they were on the road anyways, so it had to be here. Vince had a suite anyways, so it wasn't like Chris was going to be sitting on a bed talking or anything. Vince came to the door and opened it for him. Chris gave him a handshake as he walked inside.

"I'm just finishing up with someone," Vince said. Chris looked over Vince's shoulder and saw Stephanie sitting at the table. He was a little surprised to see her. He didn't know she was going to be here this weekend.

"Hey, Chris, it's so good to see you, what are you doing here?" she said happily. She knew exactly what he was doing here since they had gone over what he was going to say the night before. She had been at home so seeing her here really was a surprise. Vince watched the exchange.

"I wanted to talk with your dad."

"Oh, cool, I was just talking to him for a second," she said, giving him a warm smile. "I'll get out of your hair though, I don't want to interfere in your meeting or whatever."

"Thanks," he said as Stephanie stood up. Vince went to sit down again. Stephanie stuck her tongue out at Chris as she walked towards the door. She pressed a thumbs up against her chest so Chris could see and lightly grazed his hand as she passed. Chris understood then that Stephanie had been softening up her father for him. When he thought of her doing that for him, he fell for her a little more.

When the door closed behind Stephanie, Chris sat down across from Vince. "So you called a meeting with me, what about?"

Well, he sure got down to business, "Actually it's about an opportunity I recently walked in to."

"What kind of opportunity?"

"Well, I have a friend, he's a wrestler too, goes by Lance Storm, don't know if you've ever heard of him," Vince shook his head, indicating he hadn't and Chris hadn't really expected him to know. "Anyways, he's wrestling in Japan right now and well, there's a spot for me if I want it. Anyways, I know I'm under contract, but I'm still a rookie, we both know this. I think going to Japan would give me the chance to get better and even learn a new style so I can be a more rounded wrestler."

"That's an interesting offer," Vince nodded. "There's something I want to discuss with you before this though."

"Of course."

"My daughter."

Chris nearly choked on his gum, but managed to just clear his throat and hope his face wasn't getting red. What could Vince want with him regarding Stephanie if he didn't know about them. "Um, okay, what about Stephanie?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you've picked up on this, but my daughter has a rather strong…crush on you," Vince said, bringing his index fingers up to his chin. "Yes, it's rather strong."

"Oh," Chris said with a sense of relief. That was all. Vince didn't know that Chris was actually _dating_ Stephanie. He just thought Stephanie had a crush on him. He felt like he could breathe again.

"I don't know if you've noticed though."

"Oh, well, yeah, I think I've noticed a little bit."

"She really likes you. She always wants to hang out with you and she is just 17, Chris," Vince said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'm worried the kind of impression she's going to get. She's impressionable, young and impressionable and I don't want anything to happen to her. Being with a wrestler, no offense, is not something I've wanted for my daughter. I have nothing against you and I'm not even saying you would ever date my daughter, but well, she's young."

"I understand that, sir," Chris said. He would never push Stephanie to do anything, ever. He never would do that.

"Yes, anyways, this opportunity of yours, I think it's a blessing actually."

"Oh good."

"But it's in your contract that you are not allowed to work anywhere else."

"Oh, I didn't know that or didn't remember."

"Yes, so if you want to go, I'd have to release you. I could give you an open door to coming back, but I do think you could use some more training. You're very talented, but I think you could be even more talented."

"So you would release me?"

"Yes, it'd also be good for Stephanie, I think. She's just too attached to you."

"Yeah, well, I really did want to go over there."

"So we're agreed then?"

"Yeah, I think so, yeah," he said.

"Okay, well, I'll have the termination papers drawn up tomorrow. I think we can replace you on the show we were doing so you're pretty much free except for the papers."

"Wow, so just like that?"

"Pretty much just like that."

It wasn't what he planned, but this was just too good an opportunity to pass up. He wanted to go to Japan. He had psyched himself up about it. That left one thing though and that was Stephanie. When he thought he could come back, it had been different. Stephanie would be here, they could be a real couple once she was in college. But now there was no net. He wasn't going to be in the WWF. It left him with a difficult decision. He needed to talk to her.

"Chris, what do you mean you're leaving?"

"Your dad released me," he said with a shrug. "Told me that it would be good for me to get more experience in Japan, that I needed more experience and that I could think about coming back later, in a couple of years or so."

Stephanie groaned. "It's probably about me. That's why he probably released you, because he thinks I just have a crush."

"I know that you had a crush on me, and I know that's part of the reason why he released me, he told me as much. He didn't want me corrupting his daughter"

"I'm almost 18 Chris," Stephanie said, giving him a look.

"That's still _not_ 18 though," Chris said, then gathered her up in his arms. "And you're not really almost 18, your birthday isn't for another five months. I don't know how I even got involved with you in the first place."

"You couldn't resist my charms," she teased, but then frowned. "So you're not going to fight my father on this, you're really going to…leave?"

"I think it can be good for me, Steph. I've still got a lot of training that I still want to do. I'll be better if I do go there. Then, when I come back, I'll be so talented that I can be something great."

"You _are_ something great," Stephanie said with those doe eyes that he hated seeing because they made him want to give into her every whim.

"Steph, you're biased because you're my girlfriend," he said good-naturedly, then kissed the tip of her nose. "And while I appreciate the sentiment, I really think this is a good opportunity for me."

"I don't want you to leave me though," she whined.

"Steph, come on, you want me to stay here and be something mediocre instead of going out and then becoming something great? Don't you think that's a little selfish?"

"Yes, and I'm allowed to be selfish because I'm your girlfriend," she said sadly. "If you leave…that's it for us isn't it?"

"Steph…"

"It is," she said, pulling away from him. She turned her back to him and looked out the window. Chris sighed and stared at her. He knew that this was going to break her heart, but he didn't want to have her be tied down when she was so young. Stephanie had just as much to experience as he did, and it wouldn't be fair of him to expect her to just sit around and wait for him to come back.

"I didn't want it to be this way," Chris said. "But Stephanie, you're 17--"

"So I'm too young!" she yelled turning to face him, tears in her eyes, but he didn't know if they were from sadness or if they were from anger. "I'm too young so you're cutting me loose!"

"That's not it at all and you know it," Chris told her, taking a few strides to reach her and putting his hands on her shoulders, grasping her firmly, but gently. "Stephanie, you're 17, I don't want you to wait around for me, that's stupid. You're still in high school, and who knows when I'll be back. I don't want to hinder you from anything or anyone."

"But…Chris…"

"Steph, it's for the best really. You and me, we've had fun, and you're a great person, don't ever let anyone tell you differently."

"Thanks for the pep talk, _Dad_," Stephanie said in a low voice, rolling her eyes. "You don't know what I'm feeling, Chris, and just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm not mature."

"I know you're mature, I wouldn't have started dating you if you weren't," Chris told her, "because as weird as it is dating a 17-year-old girl, it would've been even weirder dating one who acted like she was 12."

She lowered her voice, "I don't act 12."

"You don't," he said, cupping her cheek and leaning in to give her a sweet kiss. She tilted her chin up into the kiss. She wrapped her arm around his neck and leaned up on her tiptoes to get more of his mouth. He pulled away, "You know I adore you."

"I know," she told him. "I just wish this didn't have to end."

"I wish it didn't either, but I'm not going to let you wait for me, I'm not going to let that happen," Chris said to her seriously. "I'm not going to let you pine away here when you can find someone else great out there. And I'm not saying get married or anything, because you are totally not ready to get married."

"Chris, I know, I don't want to get married young," Stephanie giggled. "I'm going to college and then I'm going to get a degree and work somewhere, probably with the company."

"Like that's such a bad thing," Chris said with a smirk, "you love it here, you love the travel. I don't see you anywhere else. You're going to be awesome, I know it, hey, maybe your dad will let you be on-screen."

She guffawed, "Fat chance. Daddy would never let me get into the ring. I don't want to be a wrestler."

"Yeah, but I mean as a manager or a valet."

"Again, fat chance. Daddy doesn't even want me dating a wrestler."

"And look where that got you."

She slapped him playfully on the arm. "Well, you were too cute to resist. Besides, have you seen some of the other wrestlers around here, none of them are as totally cute as you are, not a single one, I mean, come on, does he really think I'm going to get with someone like, I don't know, gross or something?"

He tucked her hair behind her ear. "You know, I didn't want to fall for you, but you're very persuasive."

"I use that to my advantage," she responded, but then turned serious again. "I'm glad I got to know you, Chris, really, so…did you want to take me out to dinner one last time? I'll just tell Daddy that I wanted to go out with you, but now that I know you're leaving, he'll understand."

"If you want to go out."

"I do, if this is our last night together, dinner would be good," she said, pulling on his hand as they walked out of her hotel room. She went across the hall and knocked on her father's door. She dropped Chris's hand before her father could answer it and he took a step away from her. Vince answered the door and smiled at her.

"Daddy, I'm going out to dinner with Chris, is that okay?" Stephanie asked brightly and child-like, trying to sound moony over it.

Chris looked at Vince and gave him a look saying to give her this and he would let her down gently. Vince appreciated the supposed effort and nodded his head, smiling at Stephanie, "Of course you can, sweetie, but Chris, have her home at a reasonable hour."

Stephanie giggled, "Oh Daddy, it's not like a date, it's just dinner, we were both hungry, and you said yourself that Chris was like a protector of me so wouldn't you want him protecting me while I was enjoying a nice meal?"

"Of course sweetie, here," Vince said, taking out his wallet and pulling out a hundred dollar bill. "Go somewhere nice on me."

"Vince, it's cool, I've got it covered."

"Nonsense," he said. "Please, just take it."

"Thanks Daddy," she said, hugging her father. "We'll be back."

"Have fun," Vince said as they walked off, glad to know that maybe now his daughter could get over this silly crush.

Stephanie dropped the act as soon as they were in the elevator. She looked over at Chris, who was looking at her with a little look of awe on her face. She laughed and looked away as she scooted a little closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and leaned his chin on her head as they waited for the elevator to descend to the ground floor.

"You were amazing back there."

"I know my father," she shrugged. "He's willing to do anything if I just act like his little girl for a while."

"It kind of scared me that you could turn into that so quickly."

"It's called acting," she said haughtily.

He shook his head as the doors opened and they separated to walk down the street to dinner. Dinner was…well it was dinner. Neither one discussed Chris's upcoming departure. Chris didn't want to make her upset and Stephanie just wanted to enjoy the evening. She knew that before Chris left, she'd have to tell him something that had been weighing on her mind for quite some time now. But that could wait until after dinner, it could all wait until after dinner.

He was downstairs in the lobby with her now, after they had come back from the restaurant. He was going to let her go upstairs on her own, and say his goodbye down here, where he could at least maybe kiss her, since they were kind of in a secluded part of the lobby and it was getting late. She leaned against the wall as he stood in front of her. She smiled wistfully at him and his eyes were kind.

"So this is it," Chris said. "I'm going to miss you, Steph, I just want you to know that, and that you were special to me."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have let myself date you if you weren't special."

"Chris…" Stephanie took a deep breath and looked up straight into his eyes.

"What?"

"Do you want to come upstairs?"

"What?" he asked, his voice hitching, not quite getting what she was saying, but thinking something that he probably shouldn't have been thinking.

"Upstairs, with me…"

"Stephanie, what are you saying?"

"That I want you to come upstairs with me, and stay with me for a while," Stephanie said slowly.

"Steph, no."

"Chris, I love you," Stephanie told him for the first time. "I didn't know how to tell you, I was scared and nervous to tell you because well, I don't know, you might not think that I really feel what I feel, but I really do feel this way about you."

"Stephy, you don't know what you're saying."

"I do!" she protested. "And don't tell me that I'm too young to feel this way, don't tell me that I'm a kid thinking that I have these feelings, I know what I feel Chris, I know how I feel about you. I can't help it, I really did, but I can't anymore, I love you, I do."

Chris closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "I love you too."

"You do?" Stephanie asked with a grin starting to creep onto her face.

"I couldn't help myself either," Chris said. "You're just…you're Steph."

"You love me," she said giddily, kissing him deeply. "You love me."

"Steph, serious moment here," he kidded. She giggled and hugged him tightly. "I didn't want to tell you because…I'm still leaving…"

"Don't remind me," she said softly into his ear, her breath warm on his skin. He held her a little tighter as she rested her head against his shoulder. He heard her sniffle a little bit and he ran his hands through her hair and kissed the top of her head affectionately. "Come upstairs with me."

"Stephanie, I'm not going to sleep with you because I'm leaving. I'm not going to let that happen," he told her quietly.

"Chris, I don't want this because you're leaving, I want this because I love you," she told him just as softly. She tightened her hold of him. "I just want to have a little part of you, a memory that I'll never forget, I never want to forget you, Chris."

"Steph, I'm not leaving forever," he told her. "I'll be back someday, maybe."

"But maybe you won't, and I love you and I want this, I really do."

"But, you're only…"

"If you finish that sentence I'm going to hit you, I'm an adult, I can make adult decisions, I know what I want, and I want this, I want you."

"Are you positive though?"

"Yeah, let's go up to my room?"

"Your room."

"Yeah, I can tell my dad that I'm going to bed early and he won't be the wiser to what's going on," she told him.

"Steph, I don't want you to do this because I'm leaving, I'm just really unsure about this whole thing. You're still young, and what you're suggesting is…"

Stephanie kissed him hard, grabbing him and kissing the life out of him. Chris moaned against her mouth and she smiled inwardly that she was eliciting such a reaction from him. He pushed her lightly against the wall and she rubbed her leg against his. His hands were under her t-shirt and up her back.

"We can't stay here, Steph," Chris said pulling away from her sweet mouth. "We could get caught."

"Let's go upstairs then," she said quickly, heading towards the elevator even as she was talking. They went inside and Chris saw he had some of Stephanie's lip gloss on his lips and wiped it off quickly. They got to her floor and they practically ran down to her room and she let Chris slip into the room while she went to talk to her father. She composed herself and knocked on her father's door.

She was so nervous that she was almost shaking, but waited anyways. Vince answered a moment later and smiled at his little girl. "Did you have fun, sweetie?"

"Yes Daddy, I just wanted to tell you that I'm turning in early tonight."

"Okay Princess, be sure you lock your door okay, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry Daddy, I'll be perfectly safe," she said, hugging him. "Night, Daddy."

"Goodnight Princess," he said, kissing her forehead. He closed his door and she turned around to face her own door.

She didn't know what she'd find on the other side, but it had to be good.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Just a small warning, there are adult _themes_ in this chapter, nothing graphic at all, just themes, so it's just a small warning if you're underage. Hope you enjoy though. :)

* * *

Stephanie slipped her keycard into her door and opened it slowly. She was starting to tremble with nervousness. But she wanted this, she knew she wanted this. She wanted Chris. She was going to let him leave her, she knew that it wasn't a good idea to stay with him when he would be off in far off lands and she would be just getting out of high school and finding herself in college. But Chris was the first man she had ever loved, and she wanted to carry that with her forever.

Chris looked up as the door opened, a part of him expecting to see her father right behind her, ordering him out of her room. Then he went back to staring at the ground, his head in his hands, running through his hair nervously. She stood for a moment, watching him, but then walked over quietly, kneeling down in between his legs and resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"So?"

"My dad said to lock my door, which I did," she told him with a soft giggle.

Chris pulled away and looked at her, kneeling in front of him. Her long, straight brown hair was hanging down over her shoulders, framing her face. She was pretty, he knew that much, had known that from his first meeting with her. He had never intended to let himself fall for the girl, had seen her as something of a younger sibling when he first met her, but she had changed from that sixteen-year-old to the seventeen-year-old that kneeled before him. But the thought still rang through his mind that she was seventeen, still a teenager while he was twenty-three.

"Stephanie, I'm not sure about this," he said, his voice cracking to show his nervousness. It wasn't the actual act of having sex with her that was the problem, Chris had already been with a couple of women prior to Stephanie, but it was the fact that she wasn't experienced, and she was just a kid, well, not so much a kid, but still.

"What's not to be sure about?" Stephanie asked innocently.

"You're seventeen for one."

"Would you get off of that?" Stephanie demanded. "I know how old I am. Chris, I want this…I don't want to go through my life regretting that I didn't do this."

"Stephanie, how about regretting it if you do?" Chris asked her.

"When did you lose your virginity?" she asked him point blank. He raised an eyebrow at her boldness.

"When I was nineteen."

"That's only two years older than I am now," she pointed out. "In the long run, who cares? I mean, you're leaving, I don't expect you to stay celibate for the rest of your life, just like I wouldn't expect you to think the same of me. But Chris, you are the first guy I've ever loved, do you get how big that is? I want to give this to you, I want to do this with you because I want you to know that this is what it means to me. This is what loving you means to me. I love you, Chris."

"You're the first girl I've ever loved," he said, closing his eyes, "which is precisely why I don't want to do this with you."

"You're telling me that you don't want me even the slightest bit," she inquired, coming forward a little bit to rub his knees. "You don't want me?"

"It's not that Stephanie, I just, I've known far too many people who had sex when they were young who regretted the entire thing."

"But those people weren't with people they loved."

"How do you know this is love Stephanie? You've never been in love…"

"Neither have you, you just said it," Stephanie pointed out. "So why did you sleep with however many people before me?"

"I don't know, because I wanted to," Chris shrugged. "It's easy when you're a wrestler and there's women hanging around."

"So ring rats?" Stephanie asked.

"Not the first," Chris told her, "the first was my high school girlfriend, the second was a ring rat, I'll admit that, it was a fling if anything and there were no feelings involved. With my girlfriend, it was just a matter of the fact that it was time, which is very well what this could be. We're running out of time and you think this is the only way that you can…"

"Shut up!" she said, her voice rising. "I'm tired of you thinking that I'm doing this out of desperation or something. Fine, if you don't want to do this with me, then don't do it with me, I don't really care. Go, goodbye, have a nice life."

"Stephy, I don't want us to end like this," he told her gently.

"Well too bad," she pouted, folding her arms in front of her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of sleep to catch up on because I've got to go home tomorrow."

"Stephanie, don't do this…"

She ignored him and walked into the bedroom area. He sighed and watched as she went to her suitcase and pulled out her pajamas. He leaned in the doorway and watched her for a moment as she laid out her stuff on the bed, going over to him and promptly slapping him across the face. Chris was shocked and grabbed his cheek where he could feel the heat from her hand. He took a step back and she frowned at him.

"Get out of here," she said, her voice low and dangerous, a tone he had never heard before, but one that really reminded him of her father. "You want this to end, fine, goodbye."

"I don't want it to end like this Steph," Chris pleaded. He took her face in his hands and kissed her, none too gently either. He wasn't giving in, but he needed to taste her lips one more time, just once more. He didn't know how she had gotten under his skin so much, this girl who hadn't yet graduate high school, who still called her father "Daddy." Yet, she was just…there was something about her that drew him in.

"Don't leave me tonight, Chris, please," she said, her voice soft as her eyes filled with unshed tears.

Chris led her to the bed, and he laid down on the bed, leaving her standing up, watching him. She looked down a little bit at her clothing, which was just a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a flannel shirt over it. She slipped off the flannel shirt and let it fall to the floor in a heap at her feet. She glanced back up at him with a shy smile.

"I didn't bring like any lingerie or anything," she said, "nothing sexy or you know, revealing or anything."

"Come here you," Chris told her with a smile. Stephanie climbed onto the bed, laying next to him. He turned to hover over her and then he leaned down, covering her mouth with his own. Stephanie moaned silently while Chris let his hands wander over her body. They were under her t-shirt now and his hands were so warm on her skin. Chris pulled away for a moment. "Are you positive?"

"Positive," she nodded.

He nodded too and then gently went to lift her shirt off of her body. She helped him out and then she took his shirt off of him. They had only gone so far as some heavy touching with each other, but Chris had never pressured her to do anything of this nature. He unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off of her body. She sighed as she was almost unclothed. She wanted this, she knew she did.

The next morning dawned early, and Stephanie felt the itchiness of the hotel's sheets on her body. She opened her eyes a little, not wanting to face another day. But today wasn't a day like any other that she had ever woken up to. No, this day was completely different. It was the day after her first time. She felt a giddy kind of excitement fill her chest and she knew that no matter what happened today, she was going to glow. She felt a soft kiss on her shoulder and Chris snuggled up behind her.

"Morning, beautiful."

She scrunched up her nose, "Are you just saying that because you had sex with me last night?"

"Yup," he joked.

"Okay, so we had sex last night," she said bluntly. "And they say that honesty is the best policy, so how was I? I know I'm not going to compare to the ring rat, because it's a ring rat, but I have to at least be better than your first, I mean, I have to be better than that."

"I think you were better than both," he whispered to her. "You were right, it _is_ better when you're in love with the person."

She turned in his arms and kissed him lightly. "What time is it?"

"9:30."

"What! Oh my God, you have to leave, you have to get out," Stephanie said frantically. "My dad wants to leave at 10:30 and he's going to come here to make sure that I'm up, and he'll find you. Then he'll kill you, oh God, you have to get out of here now, you have to leave!"

Stephanie tried to disentangle herself from the sheets of the bed, but was failing spectacularly. She looked at Chris with wide eyes, trying to pull him up and out of bed so he could get out of here before he got caught. Chris tugged her arm and pulled her back down so she was lying next to him again. Her eyebrows knitted together as she regarded the calm look on his face, wondering if he was going to throw her under the bus or something.

"Steph, I'm sorry, but I don't take a girl's virginity and then just leave them," Chris told her. "That's not the way I work."

"But my dad," she said, panicky, and eyes darting around the room like her father was going to pop in right that second.

"I've got it covered, don't worry," he said, kissing her softly. "If this is our last morning together, I'm going to spend every second I can with you. So don't worry about your dad, I've got it covered."

"Chris…"

"Steph, trust me," he said, brushing her hair out of her face. "So this is you with bed head?" She blushed and laid her head down on the pillow, burying herself into it and grabbing the sheet and pulling it up to her chin. "Oh, so _now_ you're modest?"

"Chris," she said, pulling the sheet over her head.

Chris went under the sheet as well, looking at her in the eye as they lay there. She looked up at him in wonder, not knowing how she had ever been so lucky as to have this man with her. He brushed some hair out of her face as they lay there in their own little cocoon, where the world couldn't touch them or tear them apart. She smiled at him and leaned forward to give him a small kiss. She had never felt like this before and she was scared she never would again, but she was smart enough to understand she was young and there was a whole world out there for her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said back in the same volume. "I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave," he confirmed. "But Steph, we both know it's good this way. You're going to go out and do amazing things, and what if I stayed? I'd do something stupid like propose to you, and you'd be married at nineteen and pregnant by twenty and your whole life would be a wash."

"I don't think that would happen," she giggled.

"I know, but I'm trying to make this easier, help me out here," Chris joked. "What I'm saying is, I love you, but you know, there's a lot of things out there that we both have to experience, and we'll do those things, but still have this to remember."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I get what you're saying. I just hate that it's now when this is happening. I don't expect you to never find another woman, or even get married or what not Chris. I don't expect you to love me forever like you do right now. I know this."

"You're way smarter than anyone gives you credit for, you know."

She gave him a lopsided smile, "Thanks Chris, not for like…this, but like for everything, really. Do you think we'll ever get another shot? I mean, you know, like lightning striking twice?"

"I don't know," he told her honestly. "You could meet someone, I could meet someone. It's all up in the air Steph, and we don't know where the pieces are going to land."

"Can we stay here forever?" she asked, and she sounded so young and so vulnerable that he pulled her into his chest and held her there, feeling her body pressing against his. She listened to his heartbeat. As long as they were in this bed, the world couldn't touch them.

"I wish we could."


	22. Chapter 22

They knew it was going to be over soon so they clung as hard as they could to one another, maybe not in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense. They stayed there under their sheet, pretending like the world was them, just them, covered in this whiteness, this brightness and they were just there, lying next to each other, kissing every so often. He liked kissing her. She was so sweet and vulnerable, but with a command he knew would manifest itself in her future. He could see it budding now. He knew she was going to make an impact and the world would just have to wait and see all she could do.

"I better get going," he whispered though everything in his body was rebelling against that. One night wasn't enough for her, didn't the powers that be understand? One night was not enough. He wanted endless nights, he wanted mornings, he wanted hours, just that, hours, but he was only given minutes.

"Do you have to?"

"Yeah, I think we've been in here too long and I don't want your dad to know I was in your bed. I may already be leaving, but I don't want to get murdered today either," he said, giving a small chuckle.

"I wouldn't want you to get murdered," she said, but in a way that made him think part of her wanted that because then he wouldn't leave. He didn't know whether to find that endearing or slightly creepy; he settled with endearing.

He reluctantly pulled away from her, shifting himself off the bed and pulling the sheet off of him. Stephanie sat up a moment and watched him as he went to grab his boxers. She could feel a tinge of heat on her cheeks and she could not believe she was blushing. She'd had sex with this man the night before, she'd seen him naked and vice versa. He'd done very intimate things to her body and she had to his body, but in the morning light, knowing what they had done and knowing she could never look at this man again without knowing how he looked naked.

He turned to her and he studied her a moment, "Are you…blushing?"

"Shut up," she said. Then she proved her immodesty by standing up to look for her own clothes. She figured she better get dressed as well since her father would be here soon. She looked at the clock and they had about twenty minutes left. They dressed with their backs to one another and then turned around. They'd taken a shower before bed the night before, cleaning each other off. She'd never had a shower like that before and it was probably the most fun she'd ever had.

Chris walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you _so_ much," she said and he brushed her hair away from her face.

"You're beautiful."

"Thanks," she said. "Will you keep in touch?"

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Steph," he told her. "I just…I mean, we're going to move on, right? I don't expect you to pine for me."

"I don't either, I mean, you can totally…uh, do whatever or whoever you want or whatever…just like, not tomorrow or anything, okay?"

"I think it's going to take me a little longer to get over this," Chris told her, his breath tickling her face. "But as for keeping in touch…I just want you to have fun, graduate and go to college and have fun and you are going to be so awesome."

"You really think so?"

"You are going to take this world by storm," he told her and she believed him because he was so sincere in his belief for her.

"I guess it might be best if we don't keep in touch," Stephanie said, her eyes looking down. "I mean, we both know that long distance isn't going to work, not with the kind of distance we're dealing with. Maybe it's better for both of us if we just don't."

"Why people don't see you like I see you, I'll never know."

"Because they all think I'm a kid."

He kissed her softly. "You are definitely not a kid."

"Thanks," she said. There was a knocking on the door and there were so many things she wanted to say, but there time was running short and she couldn't think of the words. They weren't coming fast enough and they'd never be said fast enough.

"Stephanie, you better be ready, we're leaving in ten minutes," Vince said from the other side of the door. Stephanie pulled away and looked to the door then back at Chris. Her eyes were sorrowful and she wanted to talk, but no words were coming out. Damn it, of all the times, why did she get tongue-tied now?

"I guess this is it," he said for her.

"I don't want you to go," she told him desperately, pressing her nails into his forearms. "Please, don't go."

"I have to," he said, kissing the tip of her nose.

"What about my dad? He'll know, you're in here and he'll know, I can't have him know about us, he'll be so angry with you," she said, panicked now. There were too many things going on and she couldn't figure out what to do or think. She might as well be a chicken running around with its head cut off.

Chris went over and grabbed his bag, pulling it so it was next to him. He turned back to Stephanie, "Go ahead and open the door."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Chris said, taking one last glance around to make sure he'd gotten everything. "Yeah, go ahead."

Stephanie walked over to the door and opened it. Her father was on the other side and looked impatient. "Stephanie, are you ready?"

"Just about, Dad," Stephanie told him.

Vince looked over her shoulder, "Chris, what are you doing here?"

"I was just saying goodbye to Stephanie," Chris said, "I was on my way out but I didn't want to leave without stopping by here to say goodbye. Just one, last one, you know."

"I understand," Vince said with a nod. He was glad Chris had let her down gently. It was for the best anyways, his daughter was too young to be dating and she deserved better than a wrestler. She was capable of so much better.

"Anyways, we were just finishing up so I guess I'll go." Chris walked up to Stephanie and pulled her into one last hug, "You be good, kid, you hear me?"

Stephanie tried to laugh, "I hear you."

"Good," he said, then he pulled away. As he passed her ear, he whispered, "I love you."

He pulled away completely and then grabbed his suitcase. He extended his hand to Vince and the man shook it, "I hope to see you in the future, Chris."

"We'll see, Vince, I want to get better and I hope to do so. But who knows, maybe I'll find out wrestling isn't for me or something," he said with a shrug.

He turned towards the door and started walking out. He turned at the last moment to give them a wave and he gave Stephanie a meaningful look. She bit her lip again. It felt like she was biting so hard that blood would spew forth like a fountain. It might as well because it felt like the blood was pouring out of her heart. She stared him straight in the eye and mouthed, "I love you too." He winked at her.

And then he was gone.

May 26, 1994 was when the first card came. It was two days before graduation. She recognized the handwriting and ran up to her room without looking back. She hadn't spoken with him in months and it was driving her crazy. There was no return address on the envelope, but it was foreign, definitely and no wonder, he was in Japan after all. She tore it open and pulled out the card. The front cover was a flat piece of origami painted to look like a woman in a kimono and it was inset in a frame. She ran her finger over it and then opened the card.

_Hey, I know we said no contact, but you're graduation and I wanted to make sure I sent you something, it's not much, but I just felt wrong not at least sending you a card. Congratulations on graduating! _

_Love, Chris_

She smiled and put the card on her nightstand.

The second card came exactly on September 24, 1994.

_Happy Birthday! You're eighteen now, which is awesome, too bad I wasn't around for when you became actually legal. Now I don't feel so bad about what happened. I hope you're enjoying college. Still in Japan, but I'm getting some work in Mexico. I'm heading there soon. I hope you're still as awesome as I remember and I hope you're having fun._

_Love, Chris_

She got a card on every birthday after that. Each card was different, unique, picked specially for her and she was continuously touched with the effort he put into the cards he sent her. They were never the kind you could buy in any store, but they all seemed handmade or special. She had some from Japan, Mexico, Germany, Canada, the United States, everywhere Chris had been, she felt like she had been. It was his way of letting her travel and she loved that he remembered that she had always wanted to go all over the world, but felt confined in one place.

She was two weeks from graduating when she got the card. It was large and when she opened it, it was a graduation cap and on the top of the white mortarboard was a note:

_Hey, Stephanie, I know it's not your birthday, but I heard you were graduating through the grapevine. That grapevine being WCW. Don't know if you watch, but I'm over here now, go me! I'm contracted for a couple years, so it's pretty cool. I just wanted to extend my congratulations on your graduation, I knew you could do it. Sweep the world off their feet._

_Chris_

He'd stopped writing love about four years ago. She smiled and put it on her bed, staring at it for a moment before she headed off to one of the pre-graduation parties. She was meeting her boyfriend there. She came back a few seconds later and put it on her nightstand, propping it up against the wall. Then she left again to go meet Tim.

Chris looked up at the building in this same way back in 1992, it was March 12, 1999 now though and these were much different circumstances. Jim Ross had contacted him, telling him that Vince McMahon had wanted to meet with him. He'd been mildly surprised, but it made sense. WCW and the WWF were embroiled in a bitter feud for ratings and the WWF had been trying to poach guys from WCW and vice versa. He just didn't think of himself as a hot commodity.

"Chris," Vince said warmly as Chris entered the office. Vince stood and shook his hand, "It's been a long time."

"Like six years or something," Chris said, spying a picture of Stephanie on Vince's wall. She looked beautiful. He'd seen that she'd made appearances on television and he knew she would blow everyone away someday.

"You've improved," Vince said bluntly.

"I think it was leaving actually. I got a lot more training under my belt, a lot more styles," he said. "It was probably the best thing that could've happened."

"I'm just sorry I didn't snatch you up before you went to WCW."

"Well, the offer was high," Chris said.

"Anyways, I think we both know why I invited you here," Vince said. "I want you to come back when your contract expires with WCW. I know that's soon and I want you to come back."

"Wow," Chris said. "I don't know, Vince."

"It'll be much different this time. I promise you that. I can see you in the main event. They're misusing you over there, Chris. I definitely believe you'd be better off over here. You would fit right in."

"Wow, can you give me time to think about that?" he asked.

"Of course, take all the time you need," Vince said. "I just want to put forth the offer out there. If you decide you want to join us, we can iron out the details."

"Thanks," Chris said. "I really appreciate you remembering me."

"Of course I remember you," Vince chuckled, "I like to think I'm the one that discovered you."

"You would," Chris said, shaking his hand again. The meeting had been short and sweet, but he had a lot to think about after this. He was being misused in WCW. He was never going to break into the big time. He wasn't an established name, they had no need for him and Vince's words sounded so promising. He went back to his hotel to think about what he was going to do. This was a major decision and couldn't be taken lightly. He fell back onto his hotel bed and looked up at the ceiling before grabbing his cell phone and pressing the speed dial.

"Hey Jess, it's me…I need your help with a decision."


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Thanks SO much for the reviews, I'm finally at the start of the real story! I know, it only took me forever, but now the real fun begins, I'm so grateful to those who have stuck with it and Game On Trips, glad I could win you over. :D

* * *

The air felt familiar, but different as well, when Chris walked into the arena. After some deliberation and asking his girlfriend her opinion, he'd decided to take Vince up on his offer and rejoin the WWE. It was the best career move for him as WCW was quickly going down the toilet and he wanted to jump off the sinking ship. He was only hesitant because he'd pretty much been a jobber during his fist stint with the company and he didn't want to go down that path again.

Vince had assured him that he would be bringing in Chris with much more fanfare than he had before and that he'd been watching tapes of Chris and was impressed by how much he had improved in the past nearly six years. What convinced him was the countdown. Chris had proposed a countdown for his debut and Vince had been all over that idea. Chris expected it to be low-key, just a little something to entice the crowd to his debut. What he hadn't been expecting was how big it actually had been. Then he was going to interrupt The Rock, one of the biggest guys in pro wrestling.

When he'd first debuted, Raw was just getting off the ground and now it was such a premiere show and there were so many wrestlers around the world that would give their right leg to be on it. It was exciting and new, but there were people he knew from the old days who he waved to and said hi to and spoke to. There was one noticeable exception though. Although he had spoken to Shane a few times since his decision to return, he had yet to see Stephanie. He knew she was busy, but it was kind of strange that he hadn't seen her and he was looking forward to seeing her again, though there was a little trepidation with it too.

He hadn't properly spoken to her in almost six years. A lot of time had passed since then and while he sent her cards, he wouldn't call them friends anymore. Then there was the issue of their last night together. He had slept with Stephanie, been her first, and now here they were again. He knew she had told him not to wait for her and she wouldn't do the same, but there was a little bit of him that felt bad for having a girlfriend. He'd loved Stephanie, honest to God loved her, but a lot of time had passed and he wondered if she had changed. Maybe she was a snob now, maybe that's why she hadn't talked to him yet, maybe she thought he was beneath her and she couldn't believe she had given her virginity to a wrestler. His heart would hurt if that happened because that night was still a treasured memory.

"Jericho?"

Chris looked up and saw The Rock ahead of him, "Oh hey, Dwayne, right?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Rocky said, shaking Chris's hand. "So we've got a promo tonight and I'm not entirely sure how you work, you know, do you get scripted?"

"No, I don't need scripts," Chris said, finding his eyes wandering. Now he found himself kind of wanting to see Stephanie, to assure himself that she hadn't changed, that she was still the same Stephanie he knew, that wonderful, beautiful girl he had loved once.

"Awesome, so I was thinking that I go out there, cut my promo, then I know the countdown is going to end, but what are you going to say exactly?"

"I haven't planned it out to a letter," Chris explained, "I don't work that way, I kind of improvise. I mean, I know what I'm going to say, but sometimes you have to follow the crowd."

"Of course."

"Basically I'm going to say that I'm here to save the WWF," Chris told him. "I think that is the best way for me to come in. I'm here to save everyone from you know, bad programming and what not."

"Sounds cool. Maybe we can talk right before again so we can really finalize it?"

"Absolutely."

"Cool, nice meeting you, I'm sure you'll fit right in…wait, you were actually here before, right?" Rocky chuckled, remembering himself.

"Yeah," Chris laughed, "but a lot has changed."

He didn't get to see Stephanie before his debut, so he still had no clue if _she_ had changed.

Chris walked backstage after his debut. It felt good. It felt almost like old times except it was bigger. Sure, he had started off here, but people probably didn't even remember that. Hell, he barely remembered that. It had been a long time ago and he had done so much since then. But now he was back and interrupting The Rock of all people, it was pretty amazing. He adjusted his shirt back on and suddenly was greeted with a grinning face.

"Chris!" Stephanie said with joking in her voice.

"Is that really Stephanie McMahon?" Chris asked with an amused tone. She let out a little scream and launched herself into his arms. He hugged her tightly and she hugged him back just as tightly as they stood there wrapped up in each other. She hadn't changed.

"I can't believe you're really here. My dad told me all about it of course, but I've just been so busy I haven't been able to catch you whenever you were in Greenwich," Stephanie said as she pulled away, but then gave him another light hug. "I'm sorry this is the first time I've seen you since you officially signed."

"Me too, you look great," he said, looking her over. "A lot older."

"Well it's been six years," Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out a little. "You couldn't have expected me to be that little seventeen-year-old girl that you left behind."

"I knew that," he said, amused. "But it's just really weird seeing you again. You got all my Christmas cards and what not, right?"

"Of course, you never missed a birthday," Stephanie smiled. "I especially liked the ones you got me and sent to me from Japan."

"Well, you know, I thought it'd be special."

"It was, but you didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did, we were friends," he told her with a smile. "And at some point, we were…more than friends." He guessed he was trying to gauge her reaction to what had happened to them in the past.

Stephanie smiled shyly, just like she used to do. "How could I forget?"

Chris smirked at her. "But that's beside the point, how have you been?"

"I've been really good," she told him. "Graduated from Boston University with a degree in Communications, did a little accounting for Daddy since he says I'm good with numbers, and now I'm on television. Not that much, not really."

"That's a lot Steph," Chris said. "I'm not doing anything after the show, are you?"

"Um," she tapped her chin. "No, I'm not doing anything that I know of."

"How about we get a late dinner or room service or something, but I'd love to catch up with you…"

"I'd like that too, you're done for the night?" she asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded. "Let's grab our stuff and go right now. I didn't drive myself here tonight, I'll just let Shane know that I'm leaving and he doesn't have to wait for me or whatever, and then I'll come get you."

"Sounds like a plan," Chris said with a smile as he watched Stephanie bound down the hallway. She still had the same energy she had when she was seventeen, but she was different now too, she had an air of maturity about her that she didn't have before. He liked it.

He went and got his stuff and changed into something more comfortable than vinyl, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Stephanie was waiting outside the door when he walked out and he graciously grabbed her bag from her as they walked silently down the hallway. She glanced at him every so often, taking in his appearance. He didn't look that different, his hair was darker and he was more tanned, but he was still Chris through and through.

They ended up at a small little café that was open and they had just ordered their drinks when they really looked at each for the first time. The last time they had seen each other in person was the morning that Chris had left, the morning after they had made love for the first and last time. The night she had given him her virginity.

"You look really beautiful, I don't think I got to tell you that yet," Chris told her.

"Thanks," she blushed.

"Oh, you still have the blush, I knew some things could never change," Chris joked as she gave him a glare. "Come on, you know that I always thought the blush was cute. You know when I thought it was the cutest?"

"When?"

"That night, when you took your clothes off and you were so embarrassed," Chris said, lowering his voice and leaning in so she was the only one that heard. Stephanie's face turned beet red and Chris chuckled.

"Chris!" she said with a pout. "Now you're embarrassing me. I was a little girl back then. I wasn't the person I am now. You knew me light-years ago. I'm not that girl anymore."

"That's too bad, I really liked that girl."

"Well, she's not completely gone," Stephanie told him. "She just changed a little bit. I'm really glad you decided to come back to the company, it gives me the chance to tell you something that I never got to tell you about something that happened that night and the morning after."

"If you tell me that you were pregnant, I'm going to freak out," he joked.

"No, no, nothing like that," she said quickly. "If I had gotten pregnant at seventeen, my father would've killed me, and then he would've hunted you down and killed you too. No, it has to do with something that I never got to tell you."

"What's that?"

"I never got to tell you that I loved you back, the morning you left, when my dad was there. I know that you mouthed that you loved me, and I know that I mouthed it back, but I never got to say it back because my dad was hovering around, and I regretted that for a long time and I just needed to get that off my chest."

"I knew you did," he told her kindly. "I didn't need you to tell me the words to know that was the case."

"So are you happy?"

"I'm happy," said Chris. "I can't really complain, your dad is paying me a lot more money now than he did then. That's always cool."

"So what was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Traveling around the world," she asked excitedly. "My dad won't let me travel, but you've gotten to go to so many places. Japan, Mexico, all around the United States and Canada. Europe a little too right?"

"How did you know all that?" Chris asked.

"What, you think I'm completely in the dark about everything?" she kidded. "I followed your career Chris. I mean, you were my first…well…everything and we didn't part on bad terms, plus I knew you'd be back and I wanted to know what you'd been up to."

"So you've watched my stuff?"

"Anything I could get my hands on," Stephanie grinned. "I loved your work in WCW. You were brilliant. I think that had a huge part in my dad bringing you back. You were hilarious and you always stole the show."

"I think you're a little bias," Chris laughed.

Stephanie blushed again. He'd missed that blush. "Maybe just a little, but you really did. I mean, that's why my dad doesn't even want to start you off at the bottom like he does some guys that are new. He wants you immediately in the picture and I can't say I blame him."

"I'm really hoping that's the case, you know, over there, they wouldn't even give me a shot at the WCW title, like when Goldberg had it and I was like you know, making fun of him, I offered to even be squashed, you know, a stupid match to make Goldberg look good, but I was refused."

"That's crap, you were awesome there and I'm so glad you're going to be around again," Stephanie said. "You're going to be great, you already _are_ great, just like I said you would be. I guess you can call me a bit of a psychic."

He laughed. "I really missed you. I could've used your encouragement when I was out there bumming rides and wondering if I could get to the next place I was supposed to get."

"Wow, that sounds rough."

"It was, but worth it," he said, "if it got me back here, it was definitely worth it."

"I missed you too," she told him warmly, pressing her hand over his briefly. "It wasn't the same for a long time after you left. I'd gotten so used to you and then you being gone, it was such a change."

"So are you seeing anyone?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, this guy named Tim, we've been dating since college actually, so we've been together a while. He's great, doesn't mind all the traveling I have to do or the entire thing with Andrew. I always kind of worried what someone would think if I have to pretend to be with another guy, but he understands it's acting and that's it. What about you? Do you have anyone in your life?"

"Yeah, her name's Jessica, we haven't been together too long, not even a year yet, but I really like her, she's great and she doesn't mind the traveling thing."

"That's great," she grinned, then she laughed again, "I just can't believe you're back. I'm so happy."

"I'm happy too," he told her. "It'll be just like old times…you know, minus the making out and that other stuff."

"Yeah, just like old times."


	24. Chapter 24

"Tim, stop."

Stephanie playfully pushed her boyfriend away. He'd come to visit her for the week as he was on vacation. Well, he'd taken the vacation to be around her. He was getting tired of being stuck at home and only seeing her on certain days so even though it was vacation, Stephanie had to work. That was fine with him though, so long as he could be around her.

"I'm not doing anything," he told her, but he was leaning over and watching her work, occasionally poking her in the side.

"Oh yeah, sure, not doing anything except bugging me," Stephanie said good-naturedly.

"I am supposed to be on vacation and people on vacation have fun and I am having fun poking you in the side," he said punctuating his statement with another poke to the side.

"Well, I'm not on vacation so I'll ask you nicely to stop poking me in the side," she told him, sticking her tongue out at him.

"What you do is boring?" he teased.

"Oh yeah, because _you_ have the best job in the world, sitting behind a desk, day in and day out."

"Hey lady, someday that money is going to bring home the bacon," he told her, leaning over to kiss her a little. "I'll have to bring something home since you're so rich and make way more money than me so I think bacon is the only thing I'll be able to afford next to you."

"Was that a marriage proposal or what?" Stephanie asked.

Tim laughed, "No, that was not a proposal nor will you get a proposal any time soon for that matter."

Stephanie pouted, "You make it sound like you don't want to get married."

"You know I don't and I know you don't either," he told her. "Because the two of us just got out of college and the last thing we want is marriage, right?"

"Right," she nodded. Marriage was the last thing on her mind. She wasn't ready to get married and while she loved Tim and had fun with him, the thought of being with him forever was not something that had entered her mind just yet. She could certainly wait and see what happened, but she was still young and didn't want to tie herself down at the moment.

"Good, we're agreed, so come on, ditch tonight. We can go have an awesome dinner and then maybe find a club around here, go dancing."

"Wow, you must _really _be bored if you're suggesting we go dancing since I know it is one of your most hated activities," Stephanie responded.

"See? See the sacrifices I'm willing to make for you, to see you happy. Me and dancing go together like chocolate and liver."

"Chocolate liver is _delicious_," she joked.

"You're disgusting."

"And yet, you stick around and take vacations where you watch me work. Someone's a little whipped."

"Never!" Tim said, leaning forward to capture her lips in another kiss. She pressed her hand against the side of his neck as she kissed him back. She pulled away and leaned her head against his, looking into his deep, brown eyes.

"I have to work, I can't go out."

"Can I at least take you out to a late dinner after you have the show?" Tim asked. "A girl needs to eat right, you _do_ need to eat, right?"

"You've seen me shovel food down my throat, of course I need to eat and yes, I will let you take me out to dinner after the show if you would let me get finished with my work so I'm not stuck here after hours with my dad lecturing me like I'm twelve, telling me I need to focus instead of making out with your boyfriend."

"When is making out with boyfriend time? I didn't see that on the schedule."

"Because it didn't make the schedule tonight, sorry, Timmy, you're benched for the evening, go back to the locker room and hit the showers, rookie," she told him. She then squealed as he pulled her into his lap. She tried to shove him away playfully, but he gripped her tightly. "You're a jerk."

"A jerk in _love_," he said, drawing out the syllables of the last word.

"And this is the gorilla, where everything really takes place."

Stephanie looked over and grinned. "Hey, Chris, over here."

Chris looked over and saw Stephanie in what he assumed to be her boyfriend's lap. He wasn't going to lie, it was weird seeing her with a boyfriend. Before the last week, the last time he'd seen her with a boyfriend, the boyfriend had been him and they'd been in bed and now she was here with this other guy. It was just strange to see his ex-girlfriend with another guy and looking extremely pleased. He wrapped his arm around Jessica's waist and walked over.

"Hey, Steph."

"Hey," she said, "This is my boyfriend, Tim, the one I was telling you about last week."

"You make it sound like there's more than one Tim," Tim joked. "Which better not be the case."

Stephanie laughed, "Don't mind him, he's a goofball."

"So says Stephanie," Tim said. "I like to think I was a normal guy before I met Stephanie. She made me into this crazy man you see before you."

"That's nice," Chris said, then turned to Jessica. "This is my girlfriend, Jessica."

"Nice to meet you, Jessica," Stephanie said politely.

"Nice to meet you guys too," Jessica said, equally polite.

"Chris and I go way back," Stephanie said. "We were like the best of friends when he was here with us the first time. Me, him, and Shane used to hang out all the time. We got really close, probably because we were the youngest people there, me especially since I was only in high school."

"That's so cool," Jessica said. "What was he like?"

"The biggest dork you can imagine," Stephanie teased.

"Hey, I resent that, I was awesome," Chris responded to her teasing. Stephanie laughed and looked at him with his girlfriend. She wasn't exactly the kind of girl she'd picture Chris with, but when the only real reference she had was herself, it was going to be a little skewed. He seemed happy and she was happy for him. She'd spent so long after he left missing him and wishing he were here with her. If he'd have come back in those first six months and asked her to marry him, she would have in a heartbeat. Time heals wounds though and she'd eventually gotten over him, but he held a special place in her heart for always.

"Yeah, I bet," Jessica said, rubbing her hand across his stomach.

"Hey, since you guys are like friends," Tim started, "why don't they come with us to dinner?"

"Really?" Stephanie asked.

"The more the merrier, I say," Tim shrugged.

"Okay," she said, turning back to Chris and Jessica. "We were going to go out to dinner after the show, nothing fancy since what the hell is open this late, right? But we were probably just going to grab something to eat before we head back to the hotel, did you guys want to come with us?"

Chris wasn't sure he wanted to accept the invitation. Going out on a double date with his ex-girlfriend? That would just be strange. Still, nobody except Lance and his mother had ever known the two of them were dating so they were just a pair of old friends and he would've seemed rude if he'd turned down her invitation, which she was so freely giving. Besides, he was very happy with his girlfriend and he could always use a good bite to eat after the show.

"What do you think, babe?" Chris asked his girlfriend.

"I'm up for it," Jessica answered.

"Then I am too," Chris said, turning to Stephanie and Tim. "Yeah, we're in. We'll meet you guys after the show?"

"Yeah, definitely, see you then, oh and good luck tonight. Second night here, exciting."

"Why do I picture you months and months down the line saying something like, '53rd night here, exciting!'" Chris joked.

"Because it is, I mean, you're in the big leagues now and we do expect to give you the win every now and then, if you're good and prove to us you were worth the investment."

"Your dad's been wanting me back for years, I'll definitely be worth the investment."

"You better, see you later."

"Bye."

Chris and Jessica walked away and Stephanie turned to Tim, pecking him on the lips a couple of times. "So you guys were close?"

"Yeah, he was a great friend to me when I needed one around here. There were guys...guys who wanted me and were a little bit on the...gross side and he really protected me like a big brother or something."

"_Oh_, like a brother, so he was like an older brother to you then?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I thought you were going to say that you'd gone out with him or something and that's how close you guys were."

"Would you have cared?" she wondered. Stephanie had never told Tim the names of her ex-boyfriends. Chris had merely been the guy she'd lost her virginity to when she was 17. She knew that Tim probably assumed she'd lost it to someone in high school, someone her own age. She'd never corrected him on it or mentioned the guy had actually been in his twenties and a man she loved deeply.

"I don't think so, would've been a little apprehensive about asking him out to dinner since you could be playing footsie with him under the table."

"I'll sit across from his girlfriend and then you won't have to worry about me playing footsie, now would you?"

"You could still play footsie, it'd just be a really interesting game of it and I don't think either Chris or me will object to that."

"You are so gross!" she told him, pushing him again.

"Abuse! Abuse! You saw it here first, you guys are witnesses to her continuous abuse to me," Tim said, locking her in a headlock. "Are you going to be on the show tonight?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then noogie!" Tim said, messing up her hair as she tried to get away. Sometimes she wondered how she could love this man so much when he was obviously a jerk.

"So she was nice," Jessica said. "She must've been so young when you guys were friends though, she looks about 15." Jessica laughed at that and looked over at Chris who managed a weak smile. She didn't catch on that it was weak though and linked her arm through his.

He had cringed when he called her so young. Stephanie had been young, yes, but she hadn't been _that_ young, not that young at all. She just looked young right now because she was supposed to look young and fresh-faced for the show and that's why she dressed like she was 12 or whatever and people didn't need to bring that up.

"Yeah, she was pretty young...she was 16 when I met her."

"Oh wow, so you have known her a long time. So did she like...have a crush on you or something? I was getting that vibe from her."

"What?" Chris said, wondering what kind of vibe there had been. Had there been a vibe? Was it possible that Stephanie still harbored feelings for him. Not that he cared or anything, but it would be an interesting twist if after all these years Stephanie was still a little hung up on him. But more than likely it was just that she cared about him because they'd had a relationship and he'd been her first.

"I just got a sense that she'd liked you back in the day, you know, I mean, I'm a girl, we can usually tell these things, so did she?"

"Did she what?"

"Have a crush on you," Jessica repeated.

"Uh, yeah, I think she did, yeah, yeah, now that I think about it, I remember her father mentioning that to me, that'd she'd had a crush. I mean, we were friends and everything, I guess it was almost natural for her to get a crush on me."

"Well who wouldn't have a crush on you after spending so much time with you?" Jessica asked coyly.

"I don't know," he croaked out.

"Tell me you like let her down gently though and weren't a jerk about it. I mean, crushes when you're that young are serious business and I'd hate to think you broke her heart or something, were you a gentleman?"

Chris couldn't help but think back to that last morning, waking up to Stephanie, her hair splayed across the pillow and loosely in his embrace, his arms banded around her stomach. He'd kissed her shoulder that morning as he watched her stir awake. He'd been awake for a short time, wondering how things could be so good at the very end. He'd never felt that way before then, never felt the perfect and it was so strange to go so many years without that particular feeling and then have it creep up on you like it should've been there all the time and was just now sneaking into the party late.

"Yes, I was a gentleman."

"Good, she seems sweet. I wouldn't want you to have broken his heart.

"No, no broken hearts here."

He wondered what it would've been like had he stayed. It would've been a trade-off for sure. He would've traded the experience he had gained over the preceding years, the matches that made him the well-rounded wrestler he was today for Stephanie. All that for Stephanie. They'd probably be married right now, maybe there'd be a kid, but that wasn't something they'd wanted at the time. She was young, he was young so they'd gone their separate ways. There were no regrets. He was going to be at the top of his profession and if that meant having to sacrifice her, she would tell him time and time again to choose the wrestling. It was a moot point anyways, they were with other people, their chance had passed, their window closed.

They had to go on as just friends.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Thanks for the reviews for this one. I really do love this story and I can't wait to make it progress more, but baby steps I guess. I really hope you like this chapter, it was really hard to restrain myself in certain places, but I think I did okay. If you want, please review, they really help me write and the make my day, so leave one! :P

* * *

"So this place is nice."

Chris felt awkward and he couldn't quite explain why he felt awkward. Sure, he could throw out thoughts like, "You're out with your ex-girlfriend sitting across from you" or "I was the one that took her virginity" but those didn't really explain anything. Those things were in the past, they were no longer relevant to today. It was just…there was some strange energy going around this table and he couldn't put his finger on why exactly he felt that way, but feel it he did. He smiled a little over at Stephanie and she smiled back.

"It is nice," Chris told her, nodding his head as they all looked around. They probably looked like a bunch of weirdos, heads swiveling in every direction.

"Yeah," Stephanie said, then broke out of her tongue-tiedness. "So, how did you guys meet?"

Chris looked over at Jessica and smiled. He really enjoyed being with her. He thought they were good together and he did see a future with her. They were really compatible and liked many of the same things. She was also his type, Stephanie was the one that was atypical to what he'd liked actually. After her, all the women he'd been attracted to had been blonde and very petite. That would describe Jessica to a tee. Actually, he'd been thinking about asking her the big question rather soon.

"Well, I knew a few wrestlers," Jessica started. "And they were in town and invited me out to a bar and so I went because I lived in Minnesota and had nothing better to do."

Stephanie laughed, "So you lived there, does that mean you two live together now?"

"Yeah, we do," Chris said and he looked over at Stephanie to see if there was a reaction. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. He didn't even know if he _was_ hurting her feelings with any of this. She seemed okay, but the two of them had never really discussed their future because deep down they both knew that the future was this big uncertain thing. Surely, though, she must have had thoughts of them moving in together or getting married or something to that affect.

"Oh, that's cool."

"I'm trying to get this one to move in with me, but she's stubborn," Tim said, jerking his thumb towards Stephanie.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and then grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers together, a move that did not go unnoticed by Chris. There was such an ease about the two of them. "I like my independence, sue me. I spent so much time being under my father's thumb that you can't blame me for wanting some freedom right now."

"See what I have to put up with," Tim said good-naturedly. "Was she like this when she was a teenager?"

"Yeah," Chris said fondly, glancing over at Stephanie and even though she was older now, there were still traces of that girl he loved so much that just knowing he'd be in her presence was enough to put a smile on his face.

"Good to know I'm not corrupting her then," Tim laughed, squeezing her hand.

"So back to you guys, you went out some place…" Stephanie said, prompting Jessica to continue.

"Well, this big doofus was there and he and another wrestler were like competing over me," Jessica laughed, "but I'm guessing Chris won that pissing contest because here we are. We just really hit it off."

"She almost knows as much about metal music as I do!" Chris said excitedly. "I've never been able to have a discussion about metal music with any of my other girlfriends, nothing like what I can talk to this girl about."

"Well maybe the other girls just didn't care for metal music," Stephanie said, implying herself and Chris knew it.

He turned to her, "Well, it's not to say that it was a bad thing or anything that they couldn't, I'm just saying that it's pretty cool right now that I can have an in-depth discussion about it, that's all. All my girlfriends have been great in some way or another."

"Hey!" Jessica said, slapping him on the arm.

"I'm just saying," Chris said, not even glancing at Jessica, his eyes still trained right on Stephanie. "I'm just saying that you know, everyone is unique and just because two people have something in common doesn't mean that I wasn't in tune with other girlfriends or whatever."

"Yeah," Stephanie said.

"So how did you guys meet?" Chris asked, changing the subject quickly because he could see Tim and Jessica just staring at them and wondering what was going on. He'd never told anyone about Stephanie. Jessica knew about his ex-girlfriends, but he'd never specifically mentioned Stephanie. There was that age difference still and people might thing he was some kind of vulture, preying on teenagers or something when it was nothing like that.

"College," Stephanie said, "you know how it goes. We had a class together, we got partnered up for some project and well, we really kind of hit it off and started hanging out when the project was over and then we just kind of fell into a relationship with one another. It was very gradual."

"But she just fell for the charm," Tim said sleazily.

"Yeah, or I was completely desperate," Stephanie said, "one or the other."

"Oh yeah, one or the other," Tim nodded as Stephanie leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips.

"So what was Chris like back in the day?" Jessica asked.

"How long have you two known each other?" Stephanie countered with her own question.

"Not even really a year yet," Jessica answered.

"Oh, well then, you don't know everything about him yet. He was a really big dork back then, I mean, he'd have to be to hang out with someone who was so much younger than he was, right, Chris?" she said teasingly. There was a gleam in her eye that he recognized and it warmed him inside. There was another little part of Stephanie that hadn't changed.

"I was not…I hung out with Shane too," Chris said, "you just loved to tag along with us."

"Yeah, I confess, I did. But Tim, you know how everyone and their mother hits on me today?" she said, turning to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, unfortunately, and unfortunately they're all usually bigger than me so when I tell them to cut it out, they pretty much laugh in my face and tell me to get lost and suddenly I'm transported back to grade school."

"Well, it was worse back then," Stephanie explained. "Wrestling was a lot…more of a free-for-all back then and the older guys had no problem hitting on me and they tried to, a lot, even the older ones."

"That's disgusting," Jessica piped in.

"Yeah, it was really scary sometimes when you'd get caught in a corner and some forty-year-old is trying to ask you back to his hotel room, like I would just go there and sleep with someone so they could get higher in the company. When Chris showed up, he was only a little bit older than I was and really sweet and he kind of looked out for me whenever I came around."

"That is so sweet," Jessica said, banding her arm around Chris. "So he like protected you from those guys?"

"Yeah, he did, he was a real friend," she said meaningfully.

"So are you glad he's back?"

"I am," Stephanie nodded. "It'll be nice to have my old friend back. Maybe we can hang out like we used to, without me being such a baby of course. I swear, I don't know how you put up with me half the time you were here before, I must've been so childish."

"You weren't childish at all, you were really mature," he told her.

"Yeah, right, I look back at how I used to be and I just cringe," Stephanie said, shaking her head. She didn't know why Chris had fallen in love with that version of herself. She had been so immature. She thought she was mature at the time, but _now_ she was mature. Maybe it was a good thing Chris left when he did, before he saw that she was just a kid trying to be an adult when she really wasn't one.

"You weren't bad at all, give yourself some credit."

"I bet you were awesome," Tim said.

"Yeah, I wish," Stephanie laughed. "So what line of work are you in, Jessica?"

"I'm just in marketing, very boring," Jessica said. "I don't live the kind of lives you guys lead. Not that I'm too envious. I'm not much of a traveler, this one practically has to force me to go with him sometimes. I guess I'm really more of a homebody."

Stephanie found it hard that Chris would want someone who wasn't as apt to travel as he was. When he'd been gone, she knew that he wasn't going to be celibate, hell, she hadn't been celibate so she wouldn't have judged him, but she'd always pictured him with some jet-setting beauty type, someone who shared his love of travel. Or someone exotic, someone he'd met in some foreign country he wrestled in. Like maybe he'd seen someone in the audience who caught his eye and he just _had_ to know who it was and followed them after the show. But maybe he was just attracted to something that wasn't so him. She wondered what he pictured her with, if it was someone like Tim or someone completely different.

Chris had seen her with someone like Tim, but maybe not so…white-collar. He knew she'd like someone funny and spontaneous as this guy seemed to be, but he was also so grounded and that wasn't something he expected. When he'd thought of Stephanie being with another guy, a guy that wasn't him, he saw her with someone who was just ready to take on the world, ready to conquer whatever came in his path. Maybe Tim was like that, but with him sitting there in his polo shirt and khakis, it seemed like Tim was the kind of guy that Vince would've introduced her too and told her that he was a very "nice boy" and that he was someone that he'd like to see her with.

"I don't think I could ever sit at home," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "That's why I don't think I'll ever have kids. Sit at home for nine months and do nothing but wait for a kid to pop out, no thanks. I have to be out there you know, just totally out there."

"The woman I love, ladies and gentlemen," Tim joked.

"Shut up, I guess I'm just a wandering spirit, you know."

"I know what you mean," Chris said. "Obviously, since I've been all over the world wrestling."

"Yeah, you do know what I mean," Stephanie said. "Not that there's anything wrong with being someone who likes to stay at home, I hope you don't think I'm trying to knock you or anything, Jessica."

"No, of course not, I have to hear it from Chris all the time about going places and seeing things. Some people are just content with where they are and I like to think that I'm one of those people, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that," Stephanie nodded, though she really didn't. The band for the evening started their set and Stephanie looked eagerly towards the stage and the dance floor set up in the middle of the restaurant. "Timmy…"

"I'll dance with you later, Steph," he said, "I have to get into the dancing vibe, you know what I mean?"

Stephanie sighed, but Chris spoke up, "I'll dance with you if you want, if that's okay with your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, fine with me," Tim shrugged. "Saves me from having to look like an idiot out there."

"Is that okay with you, Jessica?" Stephanie asked.

"Sure, no problems," Jessica smiled. "You guys should have a little alone time to catch up and everything since it seems like you guys were really great friends. You guys should recapture that."

Stephanie laughed, "Yeah, not sure about that, but come on, Chris, let's get our groove on."

"Don't ever say that again," he said, standing up and offering his hand to her. She took it gratefully as he led her over to the dance floor, where a few other couples were dancing. The band started to play a slow song and Chris chuckled. "Of course they would start that up right when we coming onto the floor."

Stephanie shook her head and stepped closer to Chris. She tentatively put her arms around Chris. "Yeah, just our luck."

"Come on, Steph, you can touch me, you know, you've pretty much seen everything there is to see about me, right?"

"My memory is hazy, sue me," Stephanie joked.

"I can give you a refresher course."

"I'm thinking the people sitting over there would take offense to that, just a little," he said as he pulled her tighter against him, making her have to band her arms around her neck even more. "Tim seems like a nice guy."

"Likewise with Jessica," Stephanie said as they fell into a silence as they continued to sway with the music. "She's a really nice girl, sounds serious with you two, what with the whole moving in together thing."

"Yeah, we are pretty serious. I've been thinking about proposing to her actually, just thinking about it, nothing set in stone or anything," Chris said quickly, though he knew not why he had to add that.

"That's nice," Stephanie said.

"You think so?"

"Well, I don't know her that well, but if you're happy with her, then you should do it."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just waiting for a sign, you know, something that tells me I'm supposed to be with her forever."

"You shouldn't believe in signs, Chris, you should just believe in yourself."

"Thanks for the advice, oh wise one," he said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"That's what I'm here for."

"I've really missed you, you know," he told her. "I wasn't lying when I said that before. Even if we're just friends now, I really could use you back in my life."

"Then consider me back in."


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. :) Hope you enjoy this chapter and how the story is progressing and reviews are always loved and appreciated, so please leave one, thanks. :)

* * *

Friends.

What a word.

It seemed so inadequate for what he had with Stephanie. Friends? Just friends? It just didn't seem right to call her just a friend. It didn't seem like that was the title they should have for each other. It was wrong. It just was wrong and still, he couldn't put his finger on why it felt so wrong. He'd moved on from the feelings he had for Stephanie, but to just settle into being her friend felt awkward and stilted. They'd been so much more than friends, how could they possibly regress back to friends now, after everything they'd been through together?

Chris had been the one to take her virginity, for God's sakes, that _meant_ something. She'd given it to him willingly and with love and he'd been the first man she'd ever loved and she'd been the first woman _he'd_ ever loved. How could they just go back to being friends after that? Maybe it was a mistake, this thinking they could be friends. Maybe he had been wrong to suggest it. Maybe it was just too long, too much, too everything for them to be friends again. He was making a mistake being her friend. They could never go back to being friends.

"Hey, stranger," Stephanie said, running her hand along his back as she sat down next to him. "How are you liking the company so far? We've really changed since you left, don't you think?"

He thought to her, not to the company. The more he talked to her, the more changes he did see in her. She was more confident now. Though she still blushed occasionally, mostly, she was confident and in control. She commanded a kind of respect. It wasn't respect like she expected the hallways to part for her presence, but more like she knew she was good and expected everyone to recognize it. He liked it on her, he liked the way she wore her confidence. She still retained everything he'd loved about her though, the sweetness, the sense of humor, everything was still there, just in this new, grown-up package.

"Yeah, you've really changed."

"Huh? Me?" she asked, smirking at him.

He shook his head, "Sorry, I meant the company, things have definitely changed around here, for sure."

"Wait, let's go back to that other thing," she said, picking up on what he'd said and wanting to run with it. "You think that I've changed? Really? Now you'll have to tell me what has changed about me, I'm very curious now."

"No, I meant to say the company," he told her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you _meant_ to say it, but you _didn't_ say it, so come on, obviously you were thinking about the ways in which I'd changed so please tell me, Christopher, how have I changed since you've last seen me, I'm anxious to know."

"I don't think you've changed too much."

"But what about me _has_ changed, you just said I've really changed," she said, nudging him in the shoulder. "Okay, if you don't want to start, I'll start. I think that your hair has definitely changed, it used to be so much lighter than it is now. It's more yellow now and you're definitely more tan than you were. I think you've discovered a way to make you look more muscular."

He laughed and looked at her, "You think my hair is more yellow?"

"Yeah, you obviously have dyed it," she said, picking up a piece of his hair and twirling it around her finger. "Its definitely dyed, either that or this is your natural color and you bleached it before, did you bleach it before?"

"I did," he told her. "This is still dyed, but it was bleached before."

"I should have known," she said, still twirling his hair around her fingers. "I like it now though. I think it looks good. It's less curly than I remember though, maybe because it's not in such a fetching mullet anymore."

"We're all allowed our one hair catastrophe," he told her, "remember the bangs that went to the ceiling."

"You liked those bangs," she pouted. "Is that one of the ways I've changed?"

"Yeah, definitely," he told her. "I like your hair now though. You like to keep it straight like this most of the time?"

"I do, it's easier to handle," Stephanie said, finally pulling her finger from his hair. He'd barely even noticed her doing it. It was something she did all the time when they were together. He'd gotten so used to her twirling his hair around her finger that it had barely even registered with him even now, years later.

"Well, you're not using fifty cans of hairspray on it anymore," he joked.

She laughed, "Neither are you."

"I did not use hair spray, that was only during my hair metal band love days and you only saw pictures of that," he told her, laughing as well.

"Yeah, but still," she said, "you're definitely better in the ring, I think we can establish that right now. Despite my obvious heartbreak and subsequent desperation over you leaving--"

"Desperation?" he wondered.

"I practically threw my naked self at you," Stephanie laughed. "I mean, does it get more desperate than that?"

"That wasn't desperation."

"Okay, it wasn't, but like I was saying, despite me being upset over you leaving, I think it was for the best. You're amazing in the ring now, even if you had never been with the company before and my father had not extended an open invitation for your return, he definitely would've sought you out, I think. You've gotten _that_ good and I think that traveling did wonders for you."

"Thanks, would you say I'm the best wrestler you've ever seen?"

"I'm biased, so yes, I would, but that's solely based on the fact that my lips have touched places on you that they've never touched on another wrestler," she winked.

"You're more confident," he told her, getting to the bottom of things. "You're so much more confident now, like, you came out of this shell that you had."

She beamed at his compliment, like she'd been waiting for someone, _anyone_, to tell her that particular word. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely. I look at you now and you're just, you're so in charge of yourself. Not to say you were insecure when you were younger, you weren't, you were a lot bolder than most girls, but there's this maturity in your confidence now."

"It's all because of you," she told him, leaning her elbow on the table to her left and then leaning her chin on her hand.

"Me? I highly doubt that."

"It was, I don't know, the courage you had to go out there and leave something familiar and easy to go after something really difficult, it was like you were a role model for me and I wanted to go out there and do the same thing. You were always telling me I was going to be something great and I never really believed you, but when you went out there to be something great, I knew I had to follow suit and I like to think you were right about me."

"I was definitely right about you. I always believed in you."

"Yeah, you did, I never got to tell you how much I appreciated that," she told him warmly, her eyes sparkling with thanks and gratefulness. "So thank you."

"Yeah right, don't thank me," he said, "you did that all on your own."

"Well, partly," she joked. "Okay, now that we've established that we're both obviously incredible and the compliment party has gone on and on and on and on, what do you think about how the company has changed?"

"It's gotten incredibly huge."

"I know," she said excitedly. She always had a flair for the business side of things. "I'm just so impressed with where my father has taken the company. It'll all be mine someday and I am going to rule everything."

"What about Shane?"

"Well, Shane's good and everything, but I'm going to take over," she told him, giving him that smirk of hers. "I'll let him keep his job though."

"Okay, adding one, you're much more ruthless now," he told her.

"You have to have that killer instinct," she said, growling for effect. "I'm just kidding, I know it's going to go to both of us, but I don't really have an official spot on the corporate side of things yet so I joke around with Tim that I'm being bred into the President since there's no other spot for me right now. I occasionally do work for the accounting department, but that's only when they need the extra help."

"You joke around with Tim about being President?"

"Or CEO, one of the jobs my parents currently hold."

"You seem happy with Tim," he said offhandedly. "He seems like a really nice guy."

"You jealous?" she joked.

"Yeah, I am, I would definitely date him, he's totally my type, how did you manage to snag such an amazing guy?" Chris said, but he wondered about what she'd said. Jealous, could he be? No, he was happy with Jessica, Stephanie was obviously happy with Tim, there was nothing to be jealous about. He and Stephanie had been good together when they were younger. They'd just admitted now that they were different people, not the same. Even if he did want her, was jealous, he didn't know her anymore, not like then.

"Very funny," she said, hitting him a little. "He is a really nice guy. He's been good to me and that's really all I can ask for, you know. Just someone who obviously loves me and treats me well and wants to be with me."

"But you don't have marriage on the horizon," he scoffed, "sounds to me like you're pretty committed."

"Committed, sure, marriage, no," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "I mean, maybe in the future, but right now, I'm not feeling it, feeling that marriage vibe, you know, the one you get when the clock starts ticking and it's either get married or just break up. Not like the feeling you're obviously getting with Jessica."

"She's great," Chris said, saying it as if he had to reassure himself of the fact.

"I can tell by the way you talk about her," Stephanie nodded with no maliciousness in her voice. "You get that voice, you know, the one where you could probably go on for hours about the person. I used to have that voice with you, except maybe tripled. If someone had asked, I would've talked about you for days."

"There's not enough about me to go on for days," Chris told her.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Stephanie told him, winking. "You love her though and I can tell." She grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and tugged on it affectionately. "You're adorable."

"What?" he said, glancing down at her hand, which was still curled around his shirt.

"You just are," she told him and for the briefest of moments, he thought she was going to lean forward and kiss him, something she would've done years ago. The funny thing was it was more forbidden now than it had been when they were younger. "I think it's always sweet when someone is so obviously in love. It's all so romantic."

"You're a sap," he teased.

"I'm simply a hopeless romantic," she said in a dreamy voice.

"I think sap was the right word," he said, somehow scooting a little closer to her, his chin in his hand now as he looked at her. They were simply staring at one another, having a conversation, but it looked very private to the outside eye. Her hand was still curled around his t-shirt, occasionally tugging at it playfully.

"Is she with you tonight?"

"Nah, she's got work," Chris said. "She's not going to be traveling with me anymore. I guess this will give her a chance to really get used to me being on the road."

"That's tough," she said seriously. "I know it can be a hard transition for the people left at home. Sometimes Tim gets frustrated with me being gone and I'm not on the road nearly as much as you are."

"I think she can handle it," Chris said, "she's tough."

"To be with you, I'd think she'd have to be," Stephanie said, the corner of her mouth turning up into a smirk. "I know I was."

"Still are," he told her, "definitely still are."

"Why thank you, maybe I should go have a match and show how tough I am," she joked, then ducked her head a little. "You know, my dad wants to pair me with Paul Levesque for this huge storyline. If I'm going against Paul, I'll definitely need to be tough."

"You and Paul…yeah, don't see that."

"What, he could be my type, don't you think?" she kidded, striking a bit of a pose. Chris found himself reaching out and touching her cheek with his palm.

"Let me see, beautiful and Paul is a bit of an ogre, you're definitely too good for him, I wonder why your dad would stick that guy with you. Talk about a mismatch."

"It's not going to last long, a few shows and then it'll go away. It's more that Paul is trying to stick to my dad, blah blah blah," Stephanie said as Chris dropped his hand from her cheek. "But it'll be fun nonetheless. We should have a storyline together. Didn't I once say that I would be your valet?"

"I think you did," Chris said. "I would love to have you as my valet, do you think you could see yourself with a guy like me?" She rolled her eyes and just stared at him, pretending to scrutinize him, look him over. She tugged on his t-shirt again.

"I think that could work."


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys, hope you enjoy the chapter and reviews are always appreciated, thanks. :)

* * *

Chris heard a frantic knocking on his door. He'd been reading a book, curled up on the couch and wiling away the night hours. He'd wanted to relax tonight after the house show today. Tomorrow he would be traveling to Raw and he had an early morning so he didn't feel like staying up all night. Being a wrestler had made him quite the night-owl so he liked to try to go to bed early in case he couldn't get to sleep at least he would get a head-start. Yeah, it was a weird logic, but he was a weird guy. He looked to the door again and wondered if he should even answer it.

He wasn't expecting anyone. He'd ordered room service earlier and enjoyed a really good hamburger with fries and a piece of apple pie that he'd nearly devoured. The knocking didn't cease so he sighed, put his book down, then got up, stretching his back and satisfied by the nice crack he heard he walked to the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw Stephanie on the other side. He was surprised, but opened the door and she stood there, hunched over and shivering. She was dripping wet, her hair falling around her face in damp clumps. Her t-shirt was clinging to her.

"Hey," she said, her tone laughing as she glanced from side to side.

"Is it raining?" he asked. He hadn't heard any rain, but he also hadn't been paying attention, so engrossed in his book was he.

"No, water balloon fight," Stephanie said embarrassedly. "I don't know how I got caught up in it, but there's a huge water balloon fight going on through the hotel and yeah, we're all a bunch of silly dorks, but when you're stuck on the road, I guess you kind of do stupid things."

"Who had balloons?" he asked.

"I don't know, everybody?" she said. "I think this was a planned thing and I think the Hardys, Adam, and Jay are the ones to blame for this. But there's like 30 people involved in this and I was just walking down my hallway and I was slammed with like 5 water balloons and I think they're after me and they know where my room is and even if I could get there, they'd pelt me, do you think I can hang out here for a while."

"Yeah, sure," he said, "that's what friends do, right?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah," she laughed as she sidestepped him to get into the room. Chris looked out in the hallway and he saw Adam running down the hallway and sail a water balloon right at the door, but Chris closed it just in time. "I'm surprised the hotel doesn't kick them out."

"They're probably being covert, can't imagine they'd go down to the lobby or anything, plus it's night, there's not any housekeeping or anything around and if someone sees the water balloons, what do you think they're going to think, that it was a bunch of adults? They'd think there were some lazy ass kids."

"Have you had a water balloon fight in a hotel before?" she asked coyly.

"I've done stuff in hotels I probably shouldn't have…and wow, did that sound really raunchy or was it just me?" he asked.

"It was definitely raunchy sounding, so what exactly was this stuff?" she asked.

"Nothing that _you're_ thinking of," he told her. "You know I'm not one for ring rats, you definitely know that."

"Well, you could've changed since we've been together, what you are then, or what you believed in, might not necessarily ring true right now."

"Ring rats are something I'm not changing my mind on, I kind of enjoy my STD-free existence, thank you very much," Chris said. "Not that I haven't had offers. Oh man, one time, in Japan, this woman like wanted me, right, and at first I was like, well, I'll check this out, but when I saw her, she was scary, seriously scary. I didn't answer the door. While ring rats can be intriguing, the reality is that I'd rather be with a girl who isn't just in it to snag a wrestler."

"Like Jessica."

"Yeah, like Jessica," he said, then noticed she was shivering. "You must be freezing, do you want some clothes? I can give you something warm to wear while you're hanging out here."

"Thanks, would you mind if I took a shower, my hair is wet too and if it dries like this it's going to be gross."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," he told her and she started to pull her shirt off right there. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?"

"Taking my wet shirt off," she told him.

"What, why, I don't think you should be doing that," Chris told her, shaking his head profusely. Stephanie was stuck with her shirt half off, her stomach showing, but nothing more. She was looking at him strangely.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because, um, you'd be taking off your shirt," he told her.

"So?"

"So you're not my girlfriend."

"I wasn't planning on taking off my bra and I _am_ wearing a bra," she laughed. "So you don't have to worry about that. Chris, you've seen me naked and besides, a bra is like a bathing suit top, it's not a big deal, you've seen all this before, you've kissed all this before, you've been _inside _all this before. Besides, nobody's here."

Did she have to remind him of that? It was bad enough knowing that they were friends when he'd done things with her that were very sexy, but now she actually had to remind him of that night. It still held up as one of his best nights ever. It was like everything just aligned right on that night and it had been wonderful. But she was right, it was like she was just wearing a bathing suit top so he shouldn't be so sensitive, but then, seeing so much of her skin, what if it brought back memories, what if he started to think of her in that way again? He loved Jessica and he wanted to be with her and he was thinking very seriously about proposing to her, but what if Stephanie brought him back to that?

"Yeah," he said quietly.

She pulled her shirt off and he tried not to look, to keep some sense of propriety, but he found his eyes wandering over. First they just snuck a glance, then they gravitated over, then his whole head turned and he was watching her. She laid her shirt over one of the chairs at the little table in the corner, probably to let it dry out. Then she tugged at her sweatpants, which were dotted with splats of water. She pulled those down too and if she'd been wearing a thong or something, he might have lost it. As it was she was just wearing gray cotton underwear that covered everything. She laid her sweatpants on another chair.

"I'll be back," she told him, patting him on the shoulder as she walked by. He wondered briefly if she was doing this on purpose. She was a lot more confident now, but that wasn't Stephanie. She wasn't that kind of girl and she probably did think it was innocent because they had seen each other naked. She probably thought it was no big deal because she was more clothed than she had been that night. It was nice to see even just a little naïveté still lingered within her.

Chris sat down on the couch again and tried to get back to his book. He found himself reading the same line over and over again and in between reading that same line he kept looking up to the bathroom door, which was closed, though it didn't shield the sound of the shower. He'd showered with her once. He remembered pressing her up against the wall, lifting her leg and having his way with her as they were pelted with water. She'd been in a suite that night, her father had paid for it, and the shower had been large and spacious, more than enough room for the both of them. The steam had made him dizzy, adding to the dizziness of lust with her. He felt like he might faint, just completely pass out because it was overwhelming. He gulped as she exited the bathroom, the steam following her like a faithful servant.

"Your clothes are on the bed," he called out and she turned and smiled at him. She went to the door and closed it and at least she did that. A few moments later she walked out, pulling her hair into a ponytail and looking swamped in his boxer shorts and one of his old WCW t-shirts.

"Do you think my dad would kill me if he saw me in a WCW shirt?" Stephanie asked.

"I think he'd be more shocked than anything."

"It's a nice shirt though," she said, pulling it up so she could read it. "WCW Monday Jericho, I like. It was about time you had a t-shirt over there."

"You kept track?" he asked.

"I…may have one of these shirts tucked in the back of my dresser," she shrugged, glancing over at him and laughing at his face. "What?"

"Of course I have your shirt," Stephanie said. "You're…you. I would definitely want to have your shirt and any shirt you get from this company I will have too, of course it'll be in my size. Chris, just because you were gone didn't mean I forgot about you. You made sure I never forgot about you. You always remembered my birthday and Christmas, always."

"I just thought it would be nice to send you cards."

"And it was, it was _very_ nice," she told him. "It made me feel connected to you even when you were gone and that was a nice feeling. I mean, not that I thought you abandoned me that morning or anything because you know I didn't, but it just proved to me that we meant something, that it wasn't in vain that I slept with you when I did."

"Steph," he told her, his voice holding all the words he wanted to say and didn't or couldn't.

"I know, it wasn't, it's just, sometimes, when you're all alone the day after and you can't really share that excitement with someone, you end up just very…alone, but then you'd send something and it was like, well, he remembers."

"Are you kidding me?" he said, grabbing her hand. "Steph, you meant so much to me. I wasn't with anyone for a _long_ time after you. Hell, Jessica is the only long-term relationship I've been in since you."

"And you love her," Stephanie said with a sweet smile, like she loved the idea of being in love.

"She's great," he agreed.

"Are you going to marry her?" Stephanie asked. "I mean, not right this second obviously because you're here, but like, in the future, I'm assuming you think of the future and everything. Are you going to propose any time soon? You said that you were thinking about it when you went out. If you need expert advice on a ring, you need not look any further than this girl."

"I haven't known her for too long," Chris said, "but I really do enjoy being with her. I guess I can see it in the future. I mean, I know I was thinking about it, but I really want to _think_ about it, you know, like really think long and hard."

"What's there to think about if you love her?"

"Steph," he said, shaking his head and tugging on her t-shirt, "it doesn't work that way and you know it."

"What way does it work then?" she asked. "If you love someone and you live with them, just marry the girl already, right? I mean, what are you waiting for? If you spend your life waiting for who you think is the right person, the soulmate, you're going to miss your chance being with someone who is going to be so good for you."

"Thanks for the advice, oh sage one," he said, rolling his eyes. "I don't need relationship advice from you."

"And why not? I'm good at giving it," she said haughtily. "You forget that I'm was a 17 year old girl who bagged a guy in her 20's, I had to know something, right?"

"How to be adorable, mostly," he told her.

"But see, that worked for me, so I think I can give you relationship advice. Just don't be scared, Chris, to go after something that you want. Don't be that guy."

"I'm not being any guy," he protested. "I just know that I haven't known her that long. If this living together thing goes well, then I'll definitely give serious consideration to the proposal thing and I'll be sure to get your input for the ring."

"I have impeccable taste," she said, sticking out her tongue at him. Chris grabbed her and put her in a headlock as she tried to push him away. "Chris, let me go! Come on!"

"Nope, you know what to say!" he told her.

"I'm not saying that anymore!"

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it!"

She huffed, "Chris Irvine is the best, sexiest, funniest, smartest man to ever live and I'm so lucky to know him and be friends forever with him."

He let her go and she glared at him. "What?"

"You're a jerk," she told him.

"A jerk you loved so _I_ must be doing something right."

She shoved him and then settled back on her side of the couch. "Let's watch a movie."

"What, are we having a sleepover now?" he wondered, not sure he'd be opposed to the idea. It would give him a chance to get to know her even better now. He liked spending time with her.

"Yeah, we are."


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I love this story and hope you are too. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and like my other update, it ended up being WAY longer than I'd first anticipated, but I hope you enjoy it and reviews are love. :)

* * *

Stephanie dipped her French fry her ketchup and then dipped it in the mayonnaise she'd put next to it. Chris cringed. She still liked her fries with ketchup and mayonnaise. He thought it disgusting when they were dating and he thought it disgusting now. He'd never seen anyone eat their fries with mayonnaise before and since he wasn't a huge fan, he'd never understood her love for it. She looked over at him and he was staring at her so she took a big glob of mayonnaise on her fry and ate it, making a soft moaning sound to demonstrate how good it was. He nearly gagged at the sight and she giggled.

"Chris, how many times do I have to tell you, it's just like thousand island dressing," Stephanie told him.

"But it's not, it's ketchup and it's mayonnaise," he told her.

She laughed and ate another fry, "So don't watch me eat, go back to your meal."

He looked down at his plate of mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings. Even though he'd eaten earlier, Stephanie had insisted that she would not eat alone unless he ordered something. He'd eaten and had dessert so he decided to just get an appetizer. Stephanie was picking off his plate anyways and he'd eaten only a couple of the sticks and three buffalo wings. There wasn't really anywhere else to look but at Stephanie. She had a little dab of ketchup on the side of her mouth that she hadn't yet wiped away and his hand twitched in its urge to reach across and gently wipe it free and make her face perfect again.

"I'm not really hungry."

"That's too bad," she said, grabbing another mozzarella stick and dipping it in the ranch dressing it had come with. "I am starving tonight and I don't know why, so I guess it's lucky for me that you aren't that hungry?"

"Are you pregnant?" he asked innocently and he wasn't quite sure where the question came from, but he asked it anyways, something to break his eyes away from that ketchup on her face, just next to her lips. It wasn't that he missed kissing them or anything, it was just, he _had_ kissed those lips. He remembered them well and it was odd now, after all these years, seeing them again and knowing that he wasn't allowed to kiss them.

Stephanie nearly spit out her food, which would not have been pretty because Chris didn't need little bits of cheese to stick in his hair. "Chris! That's not the kind of question you ask a girl," she told him. "You can't just go and assume that every girl is pregnant because they're hungry."

"I don't know, you said you didn't know why you were starving and I know you're not single right now…"

"I'm not pregnant," she said good-naturedly. "I'm just hungry. I guess that water balloon fight really took it out of me. But no, Chris, I'm not pregnant nor have I ever been pregnant, for the record."

"I wasn't prying," he protested.

She laughed and took another of his buffalo wings. "Of course you weren't. How many girls did you sleep with while you were away?"

"Not many," he admitted. Usually, if he were with the guys, he'd blow that number out of proportion. It was just something you did. Some of the guys, sure, he believed they bedded every woman who gave them a second of bedroom eyes. They were usually the married ones, which was sad enough as it was, but then there were the guys who exaggerated their conquests, who would high five and talk about the cute blonde chicks they banged the night before and then left without a care in the morning. He fell under that category. He never slept with as many women as he said, but sometimes you had to keep up, to put up a farce.

"Really?" she asked. "That's not what I've heard."

He chuckled. "So the wrestling gossipers are at it again, are they?"

"You know how lips move around here," she said. "So you are just exaggerating all the sex you had been reportedly having? Because I happened to hear a rumor that while you were gone, you pretty much left a wake of sexed up women behind you."

He laughed now, picking up one of his mozzarella sticks and taking a bite, chewing on it slowly. "Nah, I didn't leave much in my wake. You just kind of have to say it to not look like a pansy around here."

"I understand," she told me, nodding her head a little. They fell into a comfortable silence then, the only noises those coming from the television and their chewing. Chris dipped his mozzarella stick in the marinara sauce it had come with in addition to the ranch dressing and then popped the last bite into his mouth, pushing the rest of the plate towards Stephanie. She took the last one and dipped it before she ate and he just watched her. She still had that little glob of ketchup on the corner of his mouth.

He wondered if there had ever been any rumors about them swirling around like fog while he was gone. It was no secret that they were friends, but he wondered, however briefly, if anyone had figured out they were more. They were certainly affectionate while they were friends and then her thing with that guy, man, he had even forgotten his name now. Brian, he thought it was, had he suspected with the way Chris looked distrustfully at him. Her parents had known of her crush, his mother had figured out their relationship (and had been relieved when it ended), and maybe Shane had suspected something, but were their rumors? He wondered.

"Do you think anyone figured out about us?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I would have heard about it if someone did. Nobody knew, we were really good about hiding it."

Chris was kind of relieved and kind of not relieved. "It'd be nice though, if we could talk about our relationship and not have to do it behind closed doors like we're still sneaking around."

She shrugged. "I don't really care. I liked that our relationship was secret, not that I didn't love being with you or love you or anything, but it means it's just ours, you know, something that we get to carry around. Like when someone wears a locket and you always kind of wonder what's inside, but you never really get to take a peek, we're the ones with the locket and everyone wishes they could take a peek inside and see what happened, but they can't because it's ours."

"You've always had a way with words, you know," he told her. "I can't believe that you didn't do something like Creative Writing in college. I think you would've been amazing as a writer. I remember the poems and stuff you used to write and show me."

She blushed, her face turning almost as red as the ketchup still clinging to her skin. "Oh God, you know, I was reading this book of familiar essays and one of them, the author was talking about how she used to write sonnets as a teenager and at the time she thought they were the best writing anyone had ever seen and she'd be published for her sonnets and win prizes. Then, when she got older, she found one of them and read it and realized it was horrible and trite. I think that's what would happen if I found any of my old writing, I'd be mortified."

"I happened to like it. I think you could've been amazing at writing."

"I'm not saying I did everything because my father told me to, but he definitely guided my decision to do something in business, I'm not unhappy, so I guess it worked out."

"Still…you should get involved in writing storylines. I think you could write some really great stuff."

"Thanks, Chris," she said. "You've always believed in me and I don't know where that comes from."

"Just from knowing you."

Then he just had to reach out and he brought his thumb to the corner of her mouth, where that ketchup was probably now drying and he ran his thumb down slowly across her skin. How many times had he done this gesture? Not to remove any unwanted food or condiment from her face, but just because he had to touch her skin, had to run his finger across the softness of her bottom lip before his mouth sought out that softness, needing to test it himself. She didn't gasp nor did her breath stunt, hell, she didn't even look like this surprised her, like she'd known all along about the ketchup and had been waiting for his fingers to find her face. How could she react like that? How could she be so cool when his own heart seemed to be pounding so hard it would burst from his chest and walk over to her and hug her?

Finally, with great difficulty, he pulled his hand away and showed her the sticky tomato concoction that was clinging to his finger now, before he wiped it on his napkin. "You had a little ketchup on your face?"

"Thanks," she said brightly, "for nothing!" She laughed. "How long have I had that on my face and you're just _now_ wiping it off? Now I'm embarrassed."

She wasn't though and he knew it, but he laughed anyways. Maybe she could sense him tensing up and needed to do something to lighten the mood. "I was seeing how long you could go without noticing that it was on your face. You went a pretty long time."

She smiled at him, crookedly. "Well thanks, at least we weren't out in public." She pushed her plate away and leaned back in the chair she'd been perched in, one leg underneath her. "Okay, I don't think I could eat another bite, I am absolutely stuffed to the brim. Pretty soon your clothes will actually fit me."

"I don't know about that," he said.

She pulled the shirt away from her and there was a lot to pull because it was so large. "Okay, so maybe I'd have a long way to go before that. Here, help me push the cart outside so they can pick it up."

"Let me do it," he said, getting up. She watched him as he pushed the cart towards the door. He could tell because he could feel his eyes on her. He knew her eyes and it was strange that even after so long, he knew her gaze. He remembered it from days gone by, when they'd be at shows and couldn't be with one another and she'd just look at him from across the room and he'd know she was. In the years they'd been apart, he hadn't felt the gaze, he would have known if she'd been anywhere he was and she wasn't. Now he was back and her eyes had picked up where they left off. That gaze still piercing.

When he came back inside after situating the cart outside the door, she was on the couch, flipping through the movies that you had to pay for. "Are you thinking about spending my hard-earned money on a movie?"

"I will make sure they add an extra 10 dollars to your next paycheck," she told him. "Oh, _Notting Hill_! Oh my God, I love this movie! I made Tim take me to see it twice in the theaters, it's such a great movie, let's watch this one, have you seen it?"

"Is it a romantic type movie?"

"Yes, but it's funny too," she told him.

He groaned. "No, I don't want to watch any stupid, romantic movies. Besides, you just said you've seen it twice, which means you've seen it enough. Give me the remote, I'll see what there is."

"But I want to watch this one," she whined.

"It's my room, I get to decide," he said, snatching the remote from her and sitting down next to her on the sofa. Unconsciously, or what he figured was unconsciously, who knew, maybe she was doing it intentionally, but either way, she scooted closer to him so there was no space between them on the couch. She was leaning over him a little so her hair brushed his shoulder, reading the movie descriptions on the screen. "Okay, here we go, _The Mummy_, this is what we're watching."

"Chris, I don't want to watch this!"

"Why, are you _scared_?" he asked playfully.

"No," she laughed. "I just have no desire to watch this movie. It looks boring. Oh, we go on a dig and there's a mummy and it wants revenge, ooh, spooky, I'm shaking in my boots."

"It's my room, I make the choices, if we were in your room, we could watching your stupid _Snotting Hill_ movie."

"It is not called_ Snotting Hill_," she sneered, pushing in the shoulder. "It's a good movie. Hugh Grant is so cute in it and he's so funny and how can you not like him, he's a great actor and the accent is sexy."

"Well, he likes prostitutes," Chris joked.

She shoved him again. "That was a long time ago."

"Yeah, _so_ long," Chris said, rolling his eyes as he bought _The Mummy_. "Oops, my finger slipped, we're watching _The Mummy_ now, so unless you want to leave right now, then you should probably leave, you can leave my clothes behind."

"So you just want me to go out there naked, is what you're saying?" she asked.

"Hey, I'm not the one that got involved in a water balloon fight that rendered my clothes utterly useless…"

"Fine, I'll stay her and watch your stupid mummy movie," Stephanie said, settling down into the couch. Then she made a little yelp sound and got up, turning off all the lights so they could see the TV better. "There, that's better."

She came back and sat down next to him, again, giving him no room to breathe. He wondered if she were doing it on purpose, but she didn't seem to be aware of what she was doing so he figured it was just something she was doing and not something she was thinking of doing. The movie started and they both shut their mouths and just watched. Even though she was against it at first, Stephanie was into the movie. Or at least she was for a while. Chris, who _had_ been engrossed in the movie, didn't notice that Stephanie had fallen asleep against him at some point. Leave it to her to fall asleep during an action movie. He also didn't notice he'd been running his fingers through her hair, threading it through her fingers as they watched.

The movie ended and he finally realized she was breathing softly against him. When had his arm gone across her shoulders and had he really pulled her into his body. She was tucked so neatly against him that her rhythmic breathing felt like his own. He turned off the TV and yawned. It was after midnight now and he was getting tired as well. He nudged Stephanie in the shoulder, but she just kind of snuffled and kept laying against him. He nudged her again and she groaned and then nothing.

"Steph," he whispered. "Steph…"

"What?" she asked, more alert than he expected.

"It's late, did you want to go back to your room?" he asked.

"No, I want to sleep," she said, mumbling now.

"Okay, let me help you to bed then," he said. He could just crash on the couch. He slowly got up and she started to fall against the couch. He slid his arms under her legs and then under her upper back. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and he kind of threw her higher into his arms. He wasn't sure how it happened exactly but his hand landed on her breast and his first thought was that she'd really filled out in their time apart. His second was that _his_ hand was on _her_ breast and he quickly shifted his hand so it was more towards her waist.

He brought her to thee bed and laid her down, pulling the covers down and then shifting her legs so she was on the sheets before pulling the blanket over her. He dared a chance to brush the hair out of her face and she smiled in her sleep. He just watched her for a moment and then he turned to leave, but her hand was in his before he could think properly. He turned to look at her and her eyes were open just slightly. They were two slits staring up at him and her hair falling in her face again.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to crash on the couch."

"This is your room, I can't let you sleep on the couch," she told him. "Just get in bed."

"Yeah, bad idea, bad, bad idea."

"Why?" she asked innocently.

"Well, you have a boyfriend, I have a girlfriend, they're not here, this is a bed, things can happen in bed."

"Chris, I'm not naked, are you naked?"

"No…" He failed to see her point though.

"So what's the problem?" she asked. "It's just sleeping. That's all, it's just sleeping."

"Steph, it's just not such a good idea, that's all," he said, finding himself sitting next to her. "I mean, it'd be weird, don't you think?"

"No, I don't think so," she said and he was glad he could still see that innocence in her. He knew it was in there, had seen glimpses of it, but here it was full force and it just reminded him that she was still just Stephanie. She would always be just Stephanie to him and he liked that she held that title. "It's just sleeping."

He scoffed. "But you're not Jessica and I'm not Tim."

"It's just sleeping," she repeated. "It won't hurt you to sleep. I can't have you sleeping on the couch, that couch isn't even big enough for you. I don't want to put you out, so come on, I'll sleep on my side, you sleep on yours and it's just sleeping."

She was right, it wasn't like he'd get in bed and then just ravage her uncontrollably. Wait, when had he laid down. He was surprised to find that he was already _in_ the bed. How had that happened? _When_ had that happened? He looked to her and she was already asleep on her back, her head falling in his direction and her mouth open slightly. She'd just fallen asleep like it was no big deal that they were in a bed again. The last time they'd been in bed they'd just woken up from one of the most memorable nights of his life. Now here they were, _friends_, and just sleeping and she was already asleep and breathing noisily. Had she always slept like that? He tried to wrack his brain, trying to remember every last detail of that night, but he'd been so wrapped up in _her_, her body, her essence, everything that he hadn't noticed the little things, didn't know if she had slept noisily that night. Hell, had they even really slept or just drifted off every now and again when their passions had been satisfied for a short while, before their sleepy, tired bodies gravitated towards one another. He was probably not going to sleep well on this night either, not with her right there, sleeping next to him again. It was then he came to the startling and stomach-punching realization.

She was completely over him, that's why she didn't care if they slept in the same bed, why she hadn't flinched when he'd wiped the ketchup off her face, why she didn't care about falling asleep on him or any of the other moments. All her feelings were gone and she truly viewed them as friends. That's all they were now and the past was just that, the past, nothing more, nothing less, just another part of her life that was gone.

He wished he could say the same.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone, and for sticking with this story. I really like it and it's kind of taking on a mind of its own, as my stories tend to do. So I hope you enjoy the chapter and reviews are welcome so leave one if you dare. :)

* * *

He couldn't sleep.

The revelation that had struck him as he lay there had knocked any exhaustion from his weary mind and, instead, he was laying there, not sleeping and thinking and then thinking more, which was a dangerous thing, especially with her body so close to his. His brain was telling him to move, to just go to the couch, lay there where it was safe and she wasn't _right there_ next to him, breathing evenly, her hair shrouding her face the tiniest bit. His body wouldn't move though, sticking there as if his back had just adhered to the bed. It didn't want to move, but his brain was chastising him for it.

Could it really be possible that after all this time, he still wanted her? They hadn't been together for _years_ and they'd both lived a lot of life in between their last encounter and now. They were different people now, the both of them and what did he really know about Stephanie? Sure, they'd been talking and kind of hanging out, but that wasn't enough to know everything about her now. So much time had passed and they were children practically when they'd been together. Surely he shouldn't still have these feelings. He'd been with other women, hell, he was with someone now whom he loved…or thought he loved.

Did he really love Jessica? He thought he did. He could still remember seeing her for the first time and it'd been like his breath had been forcefully expelled from his body. There was just something about her, the way her hair swung around her as she laughed, her smile, her petite form stretching like a cat, seductive and soft. He'd almost instantly fallen for her and he'd told Stephanie that he was thinking about proposing and sure, he had thought about that, but if he let himself think for longer than a moment, he would realize that there was always something stopping him.

He was starting to think that something was Stephanie.

She moaned a little in her sleep, just a slight moan as she shifted her wait, but it stirred something inside of him and if possible, he scooted farther away from her. If he touched her, he might not be able to stop himself from touching her more, waking her up and caressing her face, tracing his fingers over the lines that hadn't been there before, almost imperceptible, but he would know because he'd known her before anyone else, had seen everything in her before anyone else and in a way, she was all his and could never be anyone else's.

Except she was Tim's and it wasn't like he was a bad guy, he wasn't, he was nice and Stephanie obviously cared about him, but he was in the way. Hell, so was Jessica. He wondered, if they were both unattached, if he could get back what he had with Stephanie, but better because they wouldn't have to hide this time. He could walk down the hallway proudly, holding onto her hand. That thought, when they were younger, had sent tingles through his body. He'd loved her so much back then, much more than he thought it possible and he'd spent the intervening years trying to find that feeling again, looking in so many places when it was probably waiting just right here all along.

If she knew what he was thinking, that he was glancing over at her all the time, she would probably laugh in his face, roll her eyes and tell him to get over her. He was embarrassed over the way he felt because she so obviously didn't. How did she do it? How did she manage to push aside what they had? He knew she loved him, she'd said as much, made it so much more between them, but how long had it taken it to fade away into a pleasant memory in her head? How long would it take him if he tried to go down the same route? And what did he do now?

Did he break up with Jessica? If he still loved Stephanie, if he wasn't over her, would it be fair to keep Jessica? No, because he couldn't just replace Stephanie with someone, love didn't work that way. But on the other hand, he couldn't have Stephanie, she was with someone and she was happy, so if he broke up with Jessica, he'd be alone and he wasn't sure he was ready to handle that prospect if Jessica left him and he wasn't willing to let a string of anonymous girls fulfill what needs he might have.

His fitful mind eventually fell to exhaustion as his eyes drooped and then finally closed altogether. His body relaxed as his mind conjured up delectable images of Stephanie how her body had most likely changed in the years they'd been apart. At least in his mind things were uncomplicated, dreams a simple projection of what he'd just discovered. He could escape into his mind and get reprieve even for just a moment. Somehow he knew when he woke up that things would be complicated again, but for now, they were simple and he was grateful.

When he awoke the next morning, he knew he was carrying extra body weight. He could just tell and it was when he opened his eyes that he saw that Stephanie's arm was thrown across his chest and her right leg was thrown over both of his, rendering him immobile. He coughed a little, hoping it would cause her to wake up, but she didn't. She wasn't necessarily cuddling up to him, just her body parts strewn over him haphazardly, like she'd just rolled over and happened to land on him. He was surprised he didn't wake up when it happened.

He closed his eyes and tried to leave, but he couldn't, she was pretty on there. "Chris," she moaned and his eyes shot open and over to her.

"Steph?"

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, her eye still closed, but she was clearly awake.

"Um, yeah, I guess," he told her.

"Is it morning?"

"It would appear so," Chris said, glancing over at the curtains, where the light was pouring in from the bottom and the sides. "How did you sleep?"

"Well, I was exhausted," she told him, stretching and because she was stretching her entire body, she ended up stretching against him. Her leg curled around his and her hand extended out, wiggling her fingers in a weirdly sensual way.

"I could tell, you're kind of on me," he decided to inform her of her condition.

She laughed, "I know. I can feel your body, unless this is a very, very firm mattress."

He couldn't help but laugh as well because her laugh had always been infectious. "Does it remind you of a certain morning when you woke up with a certain female?" she teased.

Did she have to bring up that night? Her leg was just below his crotch and he'd be very embarrassed if he started to get aroused by her right now, though she was making it awfully difficult for him not to be, what with the images she was trying to bring up in his head. "What are you trying to say?" he choked out and only hoped she didn't hear it in his voice.

"I'm talking about a morning much like this one…"

"We were naked that morning," he said and why did he say that.

"Well, I could oblige you," she told him and he nearly turned to dust at the thought of that. She felt him tense up a little bit and she laughed, alerting him to her joking, "Chris, what's wrong, you don't like being in a bed with me?"

"We shouldn't have slept together, I mean, what if Jessica or Tim walked in right now, what would they think of they saw us like this? I mean, they'd jump to a lot of conclusions, don't you think? We should…I should have slept on the couch."

"We're friends, sometimes, when there's no room, friends sleep in the same bed. You mean to tell me, in the whole of your entire life, you've never shared a bed with anyone that was your friend?"

"Well, for one, it's usually a guy and we're usually absolutely forced into it and when I do sleep with a friend, I haven't slept with them before."

"It was a long time ago," she reasoned, "and we're friends now and we know nothing happened."

"So you'd be okay if Tim came in here right now, with you all curled over me like you've slept on me the entire night?"

"Well, I'd be okay, I don't know about him," she winked and then sat up, looking down at him. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. Next time, I'll take the couch and you will take the bed, does that sound satisfactory to you, Chris, I wouldn't want you to feel put out."

She sounded a little hurt so he sat up too. "Stephanie, I know we're friends." God, he hated that word now, it sounded so artificial. He at least tolerated it before, but now it felt like bitter acid sloughing around his throat. "It's just…we have a history, you know, one that is complicated."

"One that we only know about though," she told him and must she rub it in like that?

"I know that, but I just…I don't know, you didn't put me out, okay, I slept fine, better than fine," he said, just wanting to get that look off her face. He didn't like that look. He didn't want to see that look on her face. He laid back down and opened up his arms. "Come here."

She settled against him. It felt comfortable here and he didn't know why she gave acquiescence to his arms, but he reminded himself that she didn't feel for him like that anymore. "We know what we are and that's fine. I like having you back in my life. Did you miss me, Chris?"

"You have no idea," he told her.

"I kept a diary, I mean, you knew that, you gave me the journal and everything," she told him. "I think I can still remember what I wrote that day. I remember going home and running to my room and grabbing it from my hiding spot. I had this hidden drawer in my desk. My dad bought it for me from some antique store, thought it looked dignified or whatever and he didn't realize it had a hidden compartment. I kept it in there. I started writing frantically in it, trying to remember every touch, every memory so that I could hold onto it forever."

"What did you say?" he asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to or anything, just curious, I guess."

She smiled to herself and cuddled against him. "I remember saying that it was the most incredible night of my life, that it was everything I ever could have imagined it would be and more. You have to remember that I was seventeen at the time and well, everything was just amped up, you know how it goes. I remember I said that it hurt at first, but after that went away, it was like, I don't know, fireworks or something, I'm sure I mentioned fireworks in there somewhere, maybe even the earth shaking."

He laughed, "It was a good night."

"It still ranks right up there," she told him. "I couldn't believe I was so bold as to suggest. I guess it was the desperation of not having any more time left with you. I think that entry alone is ten pages. I just wanted to remember the way you ran your finger down my side, how your kisses pressed against me and felt like hot spots along my skin. I was very dramatic about the entire thing. It took me a long time to get over you."

"And did you?" he asked. He really wanted to know, though he knew, even if she wasn't over him, she wouldn't say anything about it to him. She would never potentially cause him any harm in his relationship with Jessica. It wasn't the type of heart she had.

"I don't think I'll ever really be over you, not completely and how could I be, you were my first love, my first…everything," she told him, heaving a wistful sigh. "You don't really know the impact you had on my life, Chris."

"Do you think…" What the hell was he doing? "If given the chance, if we were unattached, would you want to give us another try? Hypothetically speaking, I mean, we're both with people that we love and care about so it's not like we're going to go at it or anything right now."

"Do you want to?" she teased.

"Stephanie," he said, nearly groaning at the image.

"I don't know," she answered. "I think I'd make you take me out a few times so I could see how we are now, if we're still compatible, but you're happy with Jessica and I'm happy with Tim so, you know, c'est la vie. Life goes on as it usually does. Do you mind if I order some breakfast, I'm starved."

"Go ahead," he told her. She nodded and turned her back to him to grab the phone. Chris stared at her back a moment, his mission clear.

He was going to get Stephanie back.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope everyone likes the chapter, review if you feel up to it, enjoy! :)

* * *

Getting her back was a tricky thing.

There was a lot to consider this go around. When they were younger, the only real thing they had to contend with was their age and though it was a big issue, it didn't stop them from being together and being happy. Now, they were older and there were a lot more obstacles in the way. Stephanie had a boyfriend and he had a girlfriend and they hadn't been together in a long time. She said that she might be with him if they still had a lot in common, but time had passed and she wasn't sure if they did.

He believed they did. When he saw her and the few times they'd hung out together, he could still feel it. There was something so comfortable with Stephanie. It wasn't something that was boring or bland, but it was just…comfortable, a safe feeling, a feeling that it was right and he liked that feeling and he wanted it back and he, most of all, hated that _Tim_ was the one getting those feelings with her. Who was this guy anyways? Some guy from college? They didn't have _history_, they didn't have what he and Stephanie had. What they had together was something so special, something beyond special almost. It was…perfect.

He just had to remind her of perfect.

First things first though, he had deal with Jessica. If he were to actively pursue Stephanie, he couldn't very well be tied to another woman. It just didn't work that way and it would make him look like an asshole. He had to end things with Jessica. He knew she would be surprised, she honestly thought he was going to propose soon, but it would be the right thing to do in the end. He wasn't getting home for another three days, but when he did, he would have to have a long talk with Jessica. He knew she would be upset, but he knew what his heart wanted, what his heart had always wanted.

Right now though, he had to at least establish a friendship with Stephanie and that's why he was outside her office right now. He knocked on the door and she called out to him to come in and he opened the door, sticking his head inside. She looked up and looked surprised, checking her watch and then looking at him again, "Chris, what are you doing here so early? Talent doesn't have to be here until 1 o'clock and it's only 9 o'clock."

"I know," he said, then slipped inside the room, holding up both his hands, a bag in one and a couple coffees in the other. "I knew you had to come in early so I brought donuts and coffee and I thought you might like to have some company."

"You didn't have to do that," Stephanie said, but she had a smile on her face, which was a good sign.

"I wanted to," he told her, setting the coffee in front of her along with the bag. "You still like old-fashioned glazed?"

"Does a girl ever really change her donut?" Stephanie asked as she grabbed the bag and peeked inside before grabbing a donut. "Thank you so much for bringing this because I was actually starving. I only had time to grab an orange before I left today and I'm starving and coffee is always appreciated."

"I just figured you might want something to eat," Chris said, sitting down as he sipped at his own coffee. "Plus, I had so much fun the other night, you know, just hanging out with you that I wanted to do it again and I'm here to save you from your boredom."

"How did you know I was bored?"

"Well, let's see, it's morning, you're working, there's nobody here, I'm guessing that you are zooming through whatever work you were doing, so yeah, I figured boredom would enter the equation somewhere."

"You are very astute, Christopher," she said with a giggle as she took a bite of her donut. "Didn't you have anything else to do this morning though? The gym or something?"

"Look at me," he said, flexing his bicep for her. "Do you think that I can skip one day at the gym or what?"

"You really didn't-"

"Hey, if we're friends now, don't you think we should hang out?" Chris said. "You know, before we were together, we did hang out just as friends and I don't see why that should have to change now that we're older."

"You're right," she said. "You're absolutely right. Well, thanks, I'm glad you're here. And not just here this morning, but around again, you know. I mean, the business is still so fickle so it's really hard to trust people around here."

"I know what you're saying, you should try being in this business around the world, it gets even worse," he told her. She leaned her hand on her chin to listen to him, devoting all her attention to him and him alone. He liked that about her, she always gave him the time he needed to talk and never made him feel like he was wasting her time. "Not that I didn't love it. I think I'm a better wrestler and person for it."

"But why did you go to WCW? You knew my dad had a place for you here?" she asked. "I mean, as soon as you wanted to return to America, all you had to do was call my dad and tell him that you were ready and you could have sent some tapes and you could have come straight here, why did you go to the competition?"

He wished he could answer that with a straight answer, but he wasn't sure he even had one. He'd hated WCW, well, no, that wasn't fair. He hadn't hated it at first. At first he thought it'd be a great opportunity for him, a major league company that was promising him they'd give him time on the show. WCW was really taking off and it'd seemed like a good chance to really make a name for himself and become a main-eventer. When he'd been with the WWF before, he was a jobber and not much more than that and he didn't want to go back to that and so WCW seemed the better option.

There was also Stephanie. Though he didn't want her to be a factor in his decision, she had to be. He wasn't sure if he could see her again and it wasn't because he hated her or didn't like her, quite the opposite, in fact, he just didn't now what seeing her again would do to him. To put it in the most honest terms, he was scared to see her, scared of the feelings that might resurface around her when he'd spent so long trying to get over her.

WCW had not turned out, in any way, how he had hoped. The top guys tried to push him down constantly and when he tried to make a name for himself, when he tried to rise above petty politics, someone was there to push him down again. The company mishandled him and misused him at every turn until finally, he just couldn't take it anymore and the WWF had been the best option for him and probably had been all along if he'd taken time to really think about it. By the point when he was thinking about leaving, he'd started dating Jessica so he didn't think Stephanie would be a factor, but here she was again, being one of the biggest factors to anything in his life.

"I guess I just thought they would use me better," he told her, not going into that long story he'd just thought in his head. It was better to just keep things light for now, not let his feelings pour out before he could talk to Jessica. "They made promises that they had no intention of keeping."

"Because you're amazing at what you do," Stephanie said with a smile and he looked at her, just stared and she shrugged. "Please, Chris, you think I don't think you're the best thing to come along in a long time. Don't worry, when we have production meetings, I'm pulling for you."

"You really don't have to do that."

"I want to because I think you're amazing and you deserve to be in the main event."

"Are you responsible for my push right now?"

"I'm not saying," she smirked. "I wish you had just come back. I think my dad felt a little betrayed when you went to WCW before coming back here. Not that he would _ever_ tell you anything like that. He'd probably call it a good learning experience and I'm sure he's glad you hated it over there so you won't make the jump back. But I still think he was a little disappointed."

"Were you disappointed?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, you make your own decisions, you know. I can't tell you what to do anymore. If we had still been together, I like to think you would have come back. Sometimes I think about that, you know…"

"Think about us still being together."

She wore a wistful smile on her face and nodded. "I mean, I know long distance is pretty much the death knell of a relationship and that we more than likely would not have worked out if we'd gone that route, but you always wonder, you know. I mean, the way we ended was really such an abrupt end, I thought a lot about what would have happened if we'd just tried and then comes the whole, 'of course we would have made it!' mentality when in reality, with you half way around the world, there was really no chance for us."

"Well I don't know about that," he told her, a little offended that she didn't think they could have made it work. Was she trying to tell him that they wouldn't work now?

"You think we could have done long distance? Tell me, Chris, how many girls did you sleep with while you were away?"

"Not as many as you think, I'm betting."

"But could you have not slept with them if you were still with me."

"Absolutely," he said immediately.

"Really?" she asked incredulously.

"I think I could have," he said, knowing that if he were still in a relationship with her, he would have forgone any of those women he'd slept with. "Stephanie, I'm not a cheater, I would never have cheat on you if we were together."

He wasn't a cheater, that's why he was not going to pull anything on Stephanie before he could talk to Jessica. He had more respect for Jessica than to try and hit on Stephanie while he was still with her. Plus, she didn't deserve a phone dump, she deserved to see him in the flesh and get the answers that she needed from him. She even deserved maybe a shot or two at him if that made her feel better.

"I believe you," she said. "But I guess things worked out fine the way they did. You have Jessica and I have Tim and I guess we're better off now."

There was a word in that sentence that Chris clung to and examined. She'd said she _guessed_ they were better now. Guessed? Guessed did not seem like a positive word in that particular context. Could it be she wasn't as happy with Tim or that she hated the idea of him and Jessica? He was willing to believe it if it meant that it would be easier to have her back. Everything in him screamed Stephanie, but he'd spent years tampering it down in favor of his career. He didn't want to do that anymore and he felt like the feelings he'd had for her were always there, waiting for him to realize they never went away.

"Maybe," he said, answering her obliquely.

"Maybe what?"

"Nothing," he said, not wanting to get into it right here and right now. The moment had to be right and sitting here was not right, it wasn't perfect, not that he needed perfect, not that she did either, but he believed it would be nice if he could have that with her, if they could start whatever it was they were going to start on the right foot.

"Okay," she said suspiciously.

"So where is Tim?" Chris asked.

"He has work, you know that," Stephanie said.

"If I were with you, I don't think I'd be able to spend time apart from you."

"You did spend time apart from me when we were together, you were wrestling while I was at home going to school, remember?"

"I mean now, with you here and working, I don't think I could not travel with you."

"So what do you propose I should do?" Stephanie wondered. "Should I hire Tim as a wrestler or perhaps a valet to one of the divas? He has a job back in Connecticut, one that he marginally enjoys so I can't just tell him to quit so he can follow me around the world."

"I'd follow you around the world," he let slip and then instantly deemed himself an idiot for saying something like that. Her face softened though and she blushed slightly as she stared at him.

"You would not," she said playfully.

He was pretty sure he would.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

He owed this to Jessica. He owed her this face-to-face breakup because they'd been together for a while and he cared about her. He sat on her couch as she went into the kitchen to grab them some waters. He steeled himself for the ensuing argument, knowing she wouldn't give up without a fight. Jessica was like that; she liked to fight for things or maybe she just liked to fight. Whenever they'd had an argument, she would not quit until she won and usually he'd just give in, in order to stop the argument. She came back in with the water and he took his and drank it in a few gulps.

"God, someone was thirsty," Jessica said, settling into the couch, leaning against the side as she threaded her hand through her hair. "So this is a really nice surprise to have you here. I wasn't expecting you to come this weekend."

"It was a last minute thing actually," he said, clearing his throat.

"Well, I'm glad," she told him. He almost lost his nerve, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He wanted Stephanie, he'd always wanted Stephanie. He'd risked everything to be with her before and he'd never wanted to risk anything like that for anyone else, not even Jessica.

"So I wanted to talk to you," he said, placing his hand over hers, making her eyes go wide as she stared at their hands.

"Oh my God," she whispered loudly.

"What?" Chris said, startled by her reaction and the way her face was shocked. Had she been expecting this to happen? Maybe this was something she'd wanted as well. That would certainly help his cause.

"You're proposing, aren't you!" she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God, I wasn't expecting this to happen right now, oh my God! I mean, I knew it might be coming, but I truly didn't expect this, not now, oh my God!"

Chris gulped. This was not what he had planned, not what he had planned at all and now that she thought he was going to propose, this was going to be even harder. He knew that he'd been hinting at proposals, though they hadn't been seeing each other terribly long, but once he found himself still in love with Stephanie, there just couldn't be anyone else for him and he didn't think there would be.

"Jess…"

"Of course I-"

"Jess, I wasn't going to propose," he told her. She actually pushed her body back an inch or two as if to study him from some distance. She laughed and shook her head in disbelief.

"I thought…"

"I know what you thought and I'm sorry you thought that," Chris told her. "I didn't want you to think that I know that we've kind of been thinking about the whole marriage thing and I shouldn't have led you on like that…"

"Lead me on?" she asked, seeming to glean onto what he was really trying to say. "I don't…don't…Chris…"

"I'm sorry, Jess," he said, squeezing her hand, which she promptly pulled away and glared at him. "I wanted to do this face-to-face because you deserved that and you deserved some explanation for why I'm making this choice."

"I don't believe you," she snapped at him. "You come in here and act like everything is okay. You smile at me and grab my hand and drink my water and then you wanted to tell me that you don't want to be with me anymore!"

"Jess, please, calm down," he told her. "I just can't be with you anymore."

"Oh, isn't that convenient?" she said. "Is it a ring rat? One of those girls that follows the wrestlers around and hope they get to bag one, is that it? Because if it is, she's probably rampant with disease."

If only it could be a girl that he just met randomly, then maybe he wouldn't be making this choice. Instead it was someone he had an impossible amount of history with, someone who got in his brain and heart and just decided to never leave. It would be so much easier if he and Stephanie had just stayed friends all those years ago, but life had decided otherwise and maybe he really couldn't go back, but he sure had to try. He had to try for her and for them and for happiness.

"It's nothing like that," Chris explained. "I've never cheated on you, not once. It's just, yes, there is someone…someone from my past that I've recently rediscovered-"

"Wait a minute, someone from your past? Someone in the company? Are you in love…with one of those women in your company?"

"There is a woman in the company that I'm fond of, yes, and it wouldn't be fair to you-"

"This is bullshit!" Jessica screamed, standing up. "You come into my home and you start spouting off about being in love with some other woman and you expect me to what? Just sit here and take it and be happy about it? I don't think so, asshole, how dare you come in here and lead me on and fall for someone else!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen."

"Oh yes, sure, you didn't, Chris, sure you didn't, you probably are sleeping with someone behind my back, but you're too much of a coward to admit it, why don't you just say so, huh? Why don't you just admit that you've been messing around!"

"I haven't!" he exclaimed, bolting from his seat. "I wouldn't do that to you and that's why I'm here. I can't be with someone else while I was with you, was it the right thing to do to do it this way, no, but it had to be done and I'm sorry that you feel like I'm assaulting you with the news or something, but it was not my intention, God, would you just get a grip!"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" she yelled, pointing at the door. "And don't let me see you around me ever again, you son of a bitch!"

Chris stomped towards the door because he couldn't stand to be in here another second. He knew it would end badly, but he'd thought maybe she would actually try to convince him to stay. So it was kind of a pleasant surprise when she told him to leave. It made it easier on him if they just did the whole clean break thing and that's what she seemed to want to do so he was fine with that. When he stepped out the door, he breathed a deep sigh. At least the first part of this strange journey back to Stephanie was complete. Now he just needed the girl herself.

At the next show, Chris actively sought Stephanie out and upon finding her, plopped his butt down in the seat next to her, "Hey, beautiful."

She laughed and glanced over at him, "What's with the compliment?"

"Tell me when it's a crime to compliment a beautiful girl and then we'll have a problem," he said, nudging her shoulder with his own. "Just thought I'd see what you were up to, I mean, I see what you're up to, but thought I'd hang out with you for a minute."

"Thanks, I was bored anyways," she said, sitting at the gorilla waiting for the show to start wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world. "What do you have on tap tonight?"

"I don't know, match or something, you?"

"Acting like a goody two shoes and pretending like I want to marry Andrew or something," she mimicked. "I'm kind of getting tired of the act. My dad is going to have Triple H secretly kidnap me and marry me and he's going to interrupt the wedding. He's planned it all out now and I can't wait for the change of character."

"Sounds like a pretty exciting storyline," Chris told her.

"I think so, I'm so sick of being the good, little Daddy's girl, I want to expand my character, you know," Stephanie told him, "or else what is it I'm doing here? I could have been something else, but this is all I've wanted to do, why am I telling you that, of course you know that."

"I still think you could have been a great author."

She smiled, "Well, hopefully, with time, my father will let me get my hands on some of the storylines. Objective number one, getting the WWF title around your waist. I'm sure I can think of a million ways to do it."

"I'd rather earn it," he admitted.

"Chris, you've earned it already in my eyes. Look at everything you've done, everything you've worked to do since you left here the first time. You've improved leaps and bounds and you've gotten so much experience under your belt. Look at your move set, you can do mat-based, you can do the luchadore style, the Japanese style, your repertoire is _huge_."

"You act like you know."

"Chris, just because I couldn't be with you or see you doesn't mean that I have not followed your career. When your father is Vince McMahon, all it takes is one phone call to get whatever tape from wherever in the world I want it from," she explained. "I've watched a lot of your overseas work and all the other work you've been doing. My dad has been keeping tabs too, but I like to think I've really studied what you've become."

A warm flush came to his cheeks as he thought about Stephanie forgoing parties or dances just to see him wrestle, hovering over tapes and taking notes, pushing her hair out of her face. He wanted to kiss her right now, show his appreciation for how much she appreciated him. He thought back to those lonely years, cold sheets and empty arms, and they seemed a little less harsh now that he could picture Stephanie following him around the world in spirit. She was an amazing woman, how the hell was he going to get Tim out of the picture?

"Thank you," he said, the brevity of his words carrying all the emotion they needed to.

She reached forward and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're amazing," she told him as he hugged her back. "You always have been."

Why did she do these things to him? It was hard enough being around her, but being around her and hugging her and touching her were suddenly making him feel like he was being burned. He had to pull away from her. She gave him a soft look of confusion at his abrupt departure from his arms. He closed his eyes a moment to collect himself and to resist this rising urge to feel if her lips were as soft now as they had been then. He was broken from his reverie when her slightly chilly hand rubbed against his cheek.

"Chris, are you okay?"

"Not really," he answered, opening his eyes to stare into her gray-blue ones, ones he'd stared at with such reverence in days past.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly. "Is someone giving you a hard time? Sometimes the guys in this locker room can be brutal-"

"This is nothing compared to how the WCW locker room was, talk about chaos," Chris said, "everything runs smoothly over here and I already had enough friends here that there's really not a lot of hazing or anything. I just…Jessica and I broke up over the weekend."

"Oh, Chris, I'm so sorry," she hugged him again, but thankfully this one was brief and she pulled away to look into his eyes. "You guys seemed so good together, what happened?"

"Just, the job and everything…"

"But you were with WCW, she should have realized that things weren't really going to change. Was it such a problem for her to have you wrestling?"

"Yeah, I think she wanted something more settled," he lied. "I broke it off with her though, there were just some reasons I had that I figured I'd need to be alone to resolve."

The concern in her eyes only got deeper, "Resolved? Chris, is something wrong with you…please don't tell me you're taking steroids or that you're on drugs or something, Chris, please don't tell me it's that."

"No, nothing like that, trust me, Steph, I'm not into that stuff, maybe I drink too much every now and then, but I'm not into drugs or steroids, I promise you. I just don't think I was ready for a relationship with her. Maybe I'm not cut out for serious relationships, I'm have like two meaningful ones in my life and I just broke up with one of them and the other is sitting in front of me probably about to give me relationship advice."

"First of all, I'm glad that I was one of the meaningful ones or I'd be very, very worried," she said, patting him on the shoulder, "and secondly, I'm in no position to give _anyone_ relationship advice, so you are spared."

"You're not?" his head leaned in a little closer to hers, shocked, okay, more surprised. "Really?"

"I barely have _my_ relationship figured out," Stephanie said. "Remember how we had to break up because we both knew that long distance wasn't going to work for us?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Long distance is really a death knell."

"But Tim…" He had a shot, oh God, he had a shot! This was the in he had been looking for. If Stephanie couldn't do long distance, he was right here, just as he'd been before, but this time he wasn't going anywhere, this time he didn't need to find himself, he was right here and ready for her, ready for a future for her. This could not have come at a better time.

"He asked me if I would consider taking a full-time position at Titan instead of being an onscreen character, can you believe that? He asked me to basically quit my job so I could be closer to him. I understand he has his job, but I like my job and for him to ask me something like that is preposterous to me."

"That is preposterous, but haven't you guys been together a while?"

"Yeah, since college and I know that I were to quit and go work at Titan that he would propose to me, probably. I know I don't want it, but I can't stop his thoughts, you know," Stephanie said. "I'm sure he thinks it a lot and I can't get behind that."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I may take your lead and break up with him."

Perfect.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I really don't like this chapter, but I hope that you do enjoy it. Review if you feel like it, thanks. :)

* * *

"So have you decided what you're going to do with Tim?"

Chris knew that he might be pushing it right now, but he was still curious as to Stephanie's relationship status. He was simply waiting for her to break up with Tim and then he would confess everything. Okay, he might not confess everything, but he could at least start making baby steps towards the ultimate goal of being with Stephanie again.

"Why so anxious to know, gossiper?" she teased and then shook her head. "I haven't really decided anything yet. I'm still not sure of his intentions."

"You're not actually thinking about taking him up on his offer, are you?" Chris wondered, his brow knitting in the middle. Stephanie accepting the Titan job and living in Connecticut fulltime would be the worst thing he could imagine. If she did that, he wouldn't even get to spend any time with her period, let alone make them get back together.

"I don't know, I mean, he's sacrificed a lot for me as already," Stephanie waffled. "He understands that I love this business and it wouldn't be such a concession really. I'd still be working _with_ the company."

"But you love the stuff here," Chris argued, "you love being onscreen and you love the character you're playing and weren't you just saying that you were going to turn heel, which was really exciting for you?"

"Yeah, but I don't know, isn't that what you're really supposed to do for someone that you love?" Stephanie asked with a sigh. "Aren't you supposed to give up some things for the people that you love?"

Chris cringed when she said someone that she loved. He tried to distance himself from that sentiment. If he didn't think about himself wishing that Stephanie would break up with someone he loved, he didn't feel like such an asshole about it all. He just wanted Stephanie to himself and if he had to be an asshole to accomplish that, then he was going to be what he had to be. If he had to get in the ring and fight Tim for her, he'd do that too. He was bound and determined to get his woman back. She had never really stopped being his anyways; he believed this now.

"Not everything though."

"All the great poets seem to think you're wrong," Stephanie joked.

"All the great poets didn't have as great a job as you do," he joked back. "All they had going for them were puny words. You have something much more tangible than they do. You're doing such a fantastic job with all of this, Stephanie. You're going to be an amazing heel too."

"You really think so? I mean, I saw your heel work in WCW and you were great at it, I should ask you for some pointers."

"And I would gladly give it to you," he winked at her. "It's easier to make people hate you than it is to make people love you, believe me."

"The thing that gets me with you is that you're not being anyone different, not really anyways, but that you're just changing your point of view," Stephanie said and Chris was impressed that she had hit is so nail on the head. He wasn't different from how he'd been in WCW, he still challenged authority and he still whined and acted like a fool a lot of the time, but the direction of his barbs had changed and with it came the people's admiration.

"You got it," he told her.

"I watch things," she told him.

"So don't let Tim take that away from you, I mean, do you really, really, really love him?"

"Well, maybe not that many reallys," Stephanie told him, grabbing his hand and looking down at it as she thought for a few moments. Chris didn't try to say anything and he wasn't sure if he could say anything because her touch was so comforting. He remembered the few times Stephanie had traveled with her parents back when they were dating and how she'd give him these killer massages when his muscles ached. Her touch was so familiar and so warm.

"No?"

"No."

"How many reallys did I get?" he flirted and she giggled and ducked her head.

"All the reallys in the world and then whatever reallys are floating out there in space," she told him, glancing over at him and there was that look he'd seen back then, when she didn't have him and when he should have known she wanted him. "You were my first love, Chris, I don't think that…you elevate it, sometimes to unreachable levels."

"Yeah, I guess that happens, you romanticize it until it becomes this fairy tale," he said as she continued to rub his hand. "Do you ever want…it back?"

"How do you mean?" she asked, her head snapping towards his so fast that her hair flung into her face. She had to push it away with her free hand. "Like are you saying that you would want to go back there?"

"I didn't say that," he said quickly, trying to cover up something that he didn't even know he'd revealed, but it felt like she could see right through him right now and it was unnerving him and he almost wished she would let go of his hand, _almost_.

"I mean, I guess I would go back to that time…"

"Would you do anything differently though?"

"Not really, I think I'd just like to see you one more time, I don't know, just to be around you one more time and I think…have you ever seen _Our Town_?"

"No, I can't say that I have."

"Well, in it, the main character has died and she gets to go back to one day, just to see it again, just to relieve it in a way. But she chooses not to go to a big moment, like a really life-changing event in her life, but she chooses to just go to one almost ordinary day. I think I'd just like to go to one ordinary day when we were together, just to see it again."

"I like that thought," he told her and she smiled. "Stephanie?"

"Yeah?" she turned to him with that serene smile on her face.

"I know this is going to sound hypocritical of me because I did the same thing to you, but I'd miss you if you left and took a job at Titan."

"You would?"

"Of course I would. I think half of the appeal of coming back here was getting to be around you again," he told her, the left side of his mouth quirking up a bit. "The other half was because WCW was such a shithole, but a huge part of it was you."

"I didn't know that."

"Why do you think I continued to send you all those cards?"

He contemplated telling her everything, but didn't know if it was the right time. She was still with her boyfriend and he didn't want to show all his cards before he knew that he had a chance with her. If he didn't have a chance, then he might come across as a weird stalker who couldn't get over her. He didn't want to project that kind of person to her. He wanted to seem like someone who had just rediscovered what he'd thought he'd lost. The thing was, everything was starting to blur for him.

The more he thought back to the past, the more he started to realize that he never really did get over Stephanie. It wasn't a first love type thing like they'd just been speaking about. It wasn't the type of thing where it was elevated. He'd _loved_ Stephanie and that didn't go away, just lain dormant for all these years and now it was resurfacing and reclaiming his heart in the way she had so long ago and almost against his will. Except this time she was a woman and what a woman she'd turned out to be, just like he'd always known she would.

"Because you felt bad for leaving me?" she asked and she was continuing to tease him and he began to wonder if the teasing was trying to cover up something more, something deeper. Perhaps she was hiding how she was really feeling by using humor to diffuse the situation. It wouldn't be the first time she had.

"No, because I wanted you to know that I still cared about you, that you were always in my thoughts, no matter how far away I was," he explained to her.

Her hand gave his a squeeze, "I know that," she told him and he was relieved that she had. "I know you picked them out and you were very thoughtful with the gesture."

He had to tell her, he just couldn't keep it in any longer. "I was there."

"Excuse me?" she asked as she had turned her head away for a second. "What did you say?"

It was now or never.

_He'd gotten the weekend off from WCW. Actually, it was more like he got a couple weeks off from WCW. They had no use for him so he'd been at home. He'd heard through connections that Stephanie was graduating this weekend from Boston University. A bunch of guys backstage at WCW had speculated on whether or not she would go into Daddy's business or maybe she would defy him and want to join up with WCW. Chris knew she would never even consider the possibility._

_Still, she was graduating this weekend from college. When they were together, they'd often talk about college. Stephanie already knew she was going to the same university as Shane and she'd aspired to get her degree in Creative Writing. He hoped that's what she was doing there and hoped that she was happy with graduating. He couldn't imagine she wouldn't be. Maybe after she graduated she would go onto the writing team for the WWF and finally her opinions would be heard._

_He'd had an impulsive idea the night before, but he tried to quench it down. The longer he went though, the more the thought started to invade his brain and before he knew it, he was hopping a plane to Boston and booking a hotel room as soon as he got there. He didn't know if he'd even need tickets or where the graduation ceremony was, he'd just needed to be there to see her accomplish something she'd wanted for so long. He was already proud of her, had always been, but he wanted to be proud of her and watch her there._

_He found that it was at their stadium and that tickets were not required. He was grateful for that and the morning of the graduation, he got there as early as he possibly could to get good seats. He didn't want her to know that he was there; he was content just to be there to see her. He'd sat there for hours as the stadium started to fill up, the warm May morning making many people sweat, even this early. A nice, elderly couple sat next to him and he asked to see the program they had in their hand. They obliged and he started scanning through the pages._

_He was surprised to find her degree in accounting and business management and not in creative writing as she'd always dreamed. He wondered what had made her change her mind. When the ceremony started, he spent the entire time scanning the massive amounts of graduates, trying to locate her. He should have known his honing skills were good because it almost took him no time at all as he saw her in person for the first time in almost 4 years. She tucked her hair behind her ear and then leaned her chin on her hand as she listened to one of the seemingly endless speakers. She looked older, more mature, but then she laughed at something the speaker said and he saw the Stephanie he'd left behind. _

_After the ceremony, he just sat there and watched as her family swarmed her, hugging her and kissing her cheek and probably offering their congratulations. Then he saw a guy, a fellow graduate, come over to her and envelope her in a bear hug. It was too far to take in many details of his face, but when he kissed Stephanie, he didn't need any more description than that. It was obviously her boyfriend. He let out a slow breath and then turned to leave._

"Just that I was there to pick out the cards," he chickened out.

"Well, I'd hate to think that you didn't pick them out," she laughed. "I can just see it now, sending out some ring rat to get a card for your ex-girlfriend."

"You know there were no ring rats," he told her, then she gave him a look, "there were girls, but never ring rats."

"Okay, I believe you," she told him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"I feel like you're not saying something," she said, "you forget, Chris, that I've been intimate with you so that I know your looks. I may be a little rusty, but the ability is still there."

"Nothing, I was just thinking about you taking that desk job, giving in to a guy just because…"

"You think I'd just be doing it for him?"

"Yes," he told her, "I think you would."

"I'm not going anywhere, Chris. Are you?"

"No," he told her.

"Then I think we're both going to be okay."

If only he could tell her.


	33. Chapter 33

"Hey Shane, can we talk?"

Shane looked up from his position at the gorilla. He wouldn't be sitting there when the show started; that was reserved for his father, but he was just checking to make sure everything was on. He took his headphones off and looked up at Chris, "Sorry, man, what did you say?"

"I asked if we could talk, not right now because I know you're busy, but do you think that you're free after the show."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Shane joked. "Because I'll have you know that I'm a taken man."

"Too bad for me," Chris said with an exaggerated sigh. "I was just hoping we could talk."

"Yeah, sure," Shane nodded. "I'll meet up with you after the show and we'll talk. Sounds serious though, should I be worried?"

"I don't think so, at least I hope it's not, but yeah, I'll meet you after the show."

Chris had decided that if he could talk to anyone about Stephanie, it would be Shane. Sure, he knew that it might come back to bite him in the ass, but Shane had been there when Chris hadn't. He knew what Stephanie was like when he'd been gone and he just wanted to know more about her when he wasn't there. He could ask Stephanie, sure, but he wanted an outsider's opinion. If Stephanie truly seemed happy with this guy, then maybe he did need to back off.

Shane stared at him as Chris downed about half a beer in one gulp. They didn't call it liquid courage for nothing. "So what the hell is this about, Chris? Are you unhappy with your spot because you know the guys just aren't going to let you in right away. It's the damn hierarchy."

"No, I get that, it's more personal than that," Chris said, setting his beer down and looking at something, anything over Shane's shoulder. "I'm in love with your sister."

"Stephanie?"

"Do you have another sister?" Chris scoffed. "Of course I mean Stephanie."

"You're in love with _Stephanie_?" Shane asked incredulously. "Look, Chris, I love my sister, but come on, Stephanie, really? And why are you in love with her? You guys haven't seen each other in years! Plus, weren't you with some blonde chick…Jessica, right, was that her name, or was it Jennifer?"

"It was Jessica, I broke up with her…because I'm in love with your sister," Chris said slowly. "I want to be with your sister."

"Again, why? I'm not saying that she's not a great girl or whatever, but…why? Besides, she's with Tim and I think she loves him or something and I'm not sure you two would even go together because well, she is a bit high-"

"We dated, Shane," Chris interrupted and Shane furrowed his brow.

"What are you even talking about? You haven't been with the company in over…you dated my 16 year old sister!" Shane exclaimed and Chris shushed him and looked around, glad for the volume of this restaurant so people wouldn't look at him and think he was a pervert.

"Shut up, man."

"You dated her!" Shane said, "Oh, I'm going to kill you right now! You're dead, Irvine."

"Shane, come on!" Chris said, trying to calm him down.

"You son of a bitch, how could you take advantage of my sister like that! She was a kid, you fucking pervert. I considered you my friend and you were putting designs on my baby sister, what kind of guy does that?"

Chris took a deep breath. "First of all, we are friends and second of all, Shane, if I was taking advantage of your sister, why the hell was I a jobber the entire time I was with the company the first time, huh? And putting designs on her, I never had any designs on Stephanie. She was my friend and then one day, I don't know, she…do you know how awesome your sister is?"

"You're sick, man, _sick_."

"I knew this would turn out badly," Chris told him. "I'm not going to apologize for my actions years ago. I liked your sister and she liked me and that's all there was to it. She wasn't sixteen when we started dating by the way, she was seventeen, so she was of legal age of consent."

"Like that makes it better, she was in high school, you asshole," Shane said. "I should tell my father this. He's going to fire your ass and deservedly so. I can't believe you did that to Stephanie."

"I didn't do _anything_ to Stephanie. I cared about her and then I fell in love with her. I was in love with your sister then and I'm in love with your sister now. You don't know how our relationship was, Shane, you don't, okay so don't go presuming that you know everything that happened between the two of us because you don't. I didn't set out to date your sister, it just happened and do I regret it? Not for one moment."

"Fine, say that you two had a great relationship, then you abandoned her," Shane said, "that doesn't sound like a guy in love, does it? You left for Japan or wherever the hell you went and you left her, how ideal is that, huh?"

"She told me to go, Shane," Chris said, "it was her idea in the first place. I wasn't going to go, but she said that it would be good experience for me. If you had really seen her back then, you would have seen how smart she was."

"You still left her though, that's not love."

"Yeah, it is," Chris said, "She loved me enough to let me go and I loved her enough to let her go too. Do you think it was easy for me, leaving like I did? It wasn't easy at all. I was in love with your sister. I tried to fight the feelings, we both didn't want to say it, but it's what we felt and the night before we left, I told her I loved her."

"I can't believe this all happened right under my nose," Shane said with disgust. "We were friends, man."

"Yeah, we were and I didn't hurt Stephanie, she's not damaged, she's perfect, that's plain as day. I didn't want to hold her down. She went on to be great, just like I always knew she would. It was hard letting her go, but it was necessary."

"So say I accept what you're saying, which I don't," he added, "what do you want from me now?"

"I don't know," he told him, "I just, I want to know if Stephanie is happy, if at any point she wasn't…I don't know, I guess I just wanted to know if I had a chance. She's been with this Tim guy a while, I know, but is it, does he make her happy?"

"I don't know, I don't concern myself with that."

"But you've met the guy, I know you have, Shane, I'm asking you as a friend here, please, do you know about them?"

"He's a nice guy, but he's into traditional values. He's always talking about how when he marries Stephanie he'll make sure that she doesn't have to work. My mom always gets this look on her face, incredulous, I think, like she can't believe this guy. He means well though, it's not because he's a jerk, he's just…I'm not sure he gets Stephanie in that respect."

Chris nodded, "I thought so, he seemed like that."

"Did you sleep with my sister?" Shane asked.

"That's none of your business."

"Damn it, Chris, you slept with her," Shane said, burying his head in his hands. "I can't believe you slept with my baby sister."

"I didn't say I slept with her."

"If you hadn't slept with her, you would've said so, the fact that you didn't say you didn't just implicates that you did. You're so goddamn lucky that you didn't get her pregnant or you would be dead right now."

"I would've been dead back then," Chris said, giving up the act because Shane read right through it. "It was one time, right before I left, I won't get into details, but it was mutual. She wasn't coerced, actually, I was the one coerced because I didn't really want to-"

"Okay, that's enough."

"I love your sister," Chris repeated his earlier confession. He wanted to get it through to Shane that he _was_ in love with Stephanie and that he could be good for her. He wanted someone here on his side, someone who he could trust. He just wanted to be making the right decision for him and for Stephanie. He wanted the happiness he'd had so long ago with the only woman who ever seemed to matter to him. "I'm in love with her and it laid dormant for a while. I thought I could get over her, I thought I _was_ over her, but now I'm back and she's still perfect. The feelings I felt then are still there, but somehow more…"

"Adult because she's not a minor," Shane supplied for him.

"She was of age," Chris argued. "I'm not going to argue about you over that."

"I don't see how you can come to me, in all honesty, tell me that you dated and slept with my sister when she was in high school and expect me not to think you're disgusting and then want to help you out."

"Okay, fair enough," Chris said, "I know that back then, you would have kicked my ass although I treated her great, just for the record, I never pressured her, I never did anything to her, but just look at me as a guy, seriously, as a guy who is in love with your sister right now, who wants the chance to make her happy and I made her happy, Shane."

"I'm not helping you with this," Shane shrugged, "I can't help you with this."

"Fine," Chris said, shaking his head, wishing that Shane thought differently. "It's not going to make me change my mind about her, just so you know. I'm not going to just stop loving her because you think what we did was wrong. I love Stephanie and I want to be with her. I loved her then, I loved her now…I went to her graduation."

"You…what?"

"Both of them actually," Chris said with a laugh, embarrassed that he was actually revealing this. "I took time off, both times, making sure that I could be there to see her graduate. She doesn't know I was there, so please don't tell her. I would rather her not know."

"Why?" Shane asked.

Chris shrugged, "I'd just rather she not. I just wanted to be there for her. I mean, I sent her cards on all her birthdays and everything, but those were big milestones for her and I wanted to be there for her and everything, that was all. I just, she doesn't need to know because it's not a big deal."

"You love my sister," Shane said, this time without derision or sarcasm or even disgust. He still didn't like the fact that this guy had been with his young sister, but the fact that he'd gone out of his way to see a woman he had no attachment to, had maybe traveled thousands of miles to see her, that spoke to something inside of Chris that Shane couldn't argue against. It wasn't that he didn't like Tim, but he, like his parents, saw someone that wasn't necessarily right for Stephanie. Tim was a good guy, don't get Shane wrong, Tim was a good guy, but he seemed like he needed someone more grounded than Stephanie. And if what Chris was saying was true, Shane couldn't think of anyone he would rather have with his sister. Of all the wrestlers, Chris was one of the good guys. He had to make a decision.

"I do," Chris said.

"Okay, then let's get her back to you."


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy, reviews welcome. :)

* * *

In the end, he knew he was going to have to do this alone.

Yes, he may have Shane on his side and it was nice to actually have someone backing him up, but at the end of the day, the only person who could get Stephanie back was him. He had to talk to her, he had to convince her. He couldn't have Shane swoop in and play the hero. Chris was a man and he needed to act like it, not have a go-between. It was just nice to have someone around who understood, well, maybe understood wasn't the right word, but someone who just knew the history between him and Stephanie.

"I can't believe I didn't see it," Shane said, looking up at the ceiling like it would answer him. "I can't believe that I didn't realize you two were dating each other. How in the hell did you manage to cover that up? Everyone knew that Stephanie had a crush on you, a _huge_ one, how did she keep her mouth shut once you started dating?"

"We used the crush to our advantage. Whenever she would get excited or want to hang out with me, everyone just assumed, and by everyone I mean your parents, just thought they would indulge her because it was just a crush. I don't think they ever suspected we were dating."

"You _never_ would have been hired back if he knew you had dated his 17 year old daughter," Shane said, then groaned, "Okay, yeah, I've just grossed myself out again."

"At least you don't want to punch me in the face anymore," Chris said with a laugh.

"So what are you going to do about Stephanie?"

"I don't really know," Chris said, "I didn't expect to come back here and still be in love with her. I guess I always kind of did, but with her being out of sight, out of mind, I thought, hey, I'm over this girl. She's pretty amazing, isn't she?"

"She's my sister, not sure that I'm looking at her the same way that you're looking at her," Shane told him. Chris laughed, that was definitely true. It was strange how amazing she'd turned out though. There was something so different, but familiar with her now. He wanted to know this Stephanie too, like he'd known the Stephanie she had been. He just needed to get closer to her and maybe that was really the key.

"I think I need to just hang out with her again, get close to her," Chris said, "we've been hanging out as friends recently and it's nice, but maybe I should just try to be her friend again like I was before. That was how we were before and it led to more so maybe if I go through that again, if I take the same path then we'll be together again. I mean, I don't think it'll _exactly_ go the same because I don't think she has a huge crush on me anymore, but it's worth a shot, right?"

"I think you should just tell her," Shane said. "Just take her out to dinner or invite her over to her your house or something and then talk to her, hash it all out. It seems like the two of you never really got closure, I mean, I don't know what happened when you left and I really kind of don't want to know considering you slept together, but maybe she still has the same feelings and if she just hears that you want it to, she'll come back to you."

"I don't know, it was pretty closed," Chris said, "well, okay, maybe that's not true. We were rushed that morning because she had to leave and I had to leave, but still…talking to her might scare her. I don't want to scare her. Don't you think I'd come off as a crazy stalker if I was just to go up to her and confess that I was still in love with her?"

"No, because it's not like it would be totally out of line because you loved her once. You're not a crazy stalker, you're an ex who still has feelings for her."

"Yeah, I guess," Chris said, "I'll see how it goes."

"Hey handsome," Stephanie said, placing her hands on Chris's shoulders. "And hey, jackass."

"Nice, Stephanie, real nice," Shane said, rolling his eyes, "I'm your older brother, you're supposed to treat me with respect."

"I thought I was," she said, sitting down next to Chris and smiling over at him. "I thought I was going to have to eat alone, imagine my delight and surprise when I saw two of my favorite guys eating down here, have you gotten your food yet?"

"We haven't even ordered," Chris said, gesturing towards their menus, which were still sitting in front of them. "We've only gotten coffee."

"Amazing timing on my part then," she said, grabbing Chris's coffee and taking a sip. "Jesus Christ, Chris, I thought you would have gotten off the sugar in your coffee by now. I swear, it's like drinking sugar with coffee aftertaste."

"So you guys shared coffee back in the day?" Shane asked, trying to hold in his smirk. Stephanie looked over at him, but Chris didn't think he was giving anything away in his face so Chris relaxed a little. He didn't know how Stephanie would feel about people knowing about their relationship.

"We were friends, yes, I've sipped his coffee before," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "Get a grown-up drink for a change."

"Very funny," he said, taking a long sip of his coffee and setting it down in front of him before giving a look of euphoria, "delicious."

"Jerk," she said, "so what are your plans for today?"

"I don't know, I was just going to use the in-hotel gym, then probably hang out for a while and then go to the show, why did you want to do something?" He hoped he didn't sound too eager and as he looked over at Shane's smug face, he realized he had. He leaned back in his chair, trying to play it cool, but he felt like he was just drawing even more attention to himself.

"Actually, I just didn't have anything to do today," Stephanie shrugged. "Tim isn't here, he's at work and I just thought we could hang out. If you're not busy. I can go to the gym with you, I think I need to work out anyways."

"You always look beautiful."

"You're too sweet," Stephanie said, beaming at him and making Shane's smirk grow even more. Chris kicked him underneath the table and Shane yelped, "everything okay, Shane?"

"Yeah, just got a leg cramp all of a sudden," Shane said, glaring at Chris.

"Bummer, man," Chris said, "you were just leaving, weren't you?"

"I thought you guys hadn't eaten breakfast," Stephanie said, "did you eat, Shane?"

"Um, I had to actually call Rissa," Shane said. "I promised that I would call her when I woke up and unfortunately, I didn't and I don't want her to worry or anything. I can grab something from room service. I better go."

"Okay," Stephanie said as Shane got up quickly and walked away, patting Chris on the shoulder. "That was weird."

"He's probably just worrying that Rissa will be worried."

"Rissa isn't like that," Stephanie shrugged and then stood up to take Shane's spot at the table. "Oh well, I guess it's just you and me then, huh?"

"Yeah, just you and me," Chris said. Suddenly, it was like he was a bumbling teenager. What had she reduced him to? "I'll be glad to hang out with you today."

"Me too, it's so nice to have you around again," she reached for his hand. "I feel like I have someone to talk to again, someone who gets me."

"You do," he assured her.

"I think I'm going to break it off with Tim," Stephanie said and before Chris could even say anything, she continued, "I know we've been together for years and everything, but I just don't think I'm what he wants to be honest, is that bad?"

"Is what bad?" he said, his voice feeling slightly choked up. This was going so perfectly he couldn't have scripted it better. He had to play this right though. He couldn't be overeager and he couldn't be too nonchalant. If he was too eager, he might give himself away and if he was too nonchalant, she might not break up with him.

"That I'm not what he wants."

"No."

"But we've been together for so long," she said, "he was my first really serious college boyfriend, I guess you could say that he was my first adult relationship. No offense to you meant for that, but you know how people see college as finally being an adult."

"But then you can fall into that pattern of thinking that you've been with this person for a long time so I might as well just stay with them because it's familiar. You fall into a rut and you're afraid to try something new."

"You're probably right," she said as the waiter came over and took their orders. "I guess I just…you're right though, I'm familiar with him. Dating is scary. I don't know how to do it, not really. I mean, there was you and then it seemed there was Tim and that was it."

"You're young," he said and he planned on her not dating anyone but him so he had that thinking, but she didn't have to know that yet. "You've still got a lot of time left, you don't even have to rush into another relationship unless you want to. It's up to you of course, but you could always just take some time for yourself if you want."

He didn't want to see her with another guy, that was the end of it. "That might be good."

"Is there anyone that you might have your eye on?" he asked casually. He didn't expect her to come right out and say that she wanted him back or anything, but it might be nice if she said that she did and he could pretend for a little while that she was talking about him.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I don't really find anyone that attractive to be honest. I know that people think that I'm with Paul, which, I'm not. He's a nice guy, but no thank you. I just…I guess I don't see anyone here that I'm really all that fond of…maybe you."

She winked at him and he wanted her right then and there and it took everything in him not to say something. Okay, so maybe he wasn't as strong as he seemed, "I'm fond of you too. It helps that I've seen you naked before."

She laughed, "Does that help? Are you picturing me naked right now?"

"Do you want me to be?" he asked flirtatiously.

She raised an eyebrow, "Wow, now we're going back to some uncharted territory, are we? Well, if that's how you want to play, then sure, you can picture me naked if you want. I'm probably soon to be a free woman and you are one of only a few men who have seen me naked so you have special privileges I guess."

"You're free to do the same with me," he told her and he liked how comfortable this felt. He wanted to grab her hand across the table, but it might signify to her that this was something more than just flirty banter.

Stephanie pretended to start thinking very hard. "I might need a refresher course, my memory isn't what it used to be."

Was she saying what he thought she was saying? He didn't want to be presumptuous, but it was difficult because she was looking at him in that way he remembered from years ago. The way she just bit her lip and grinned at him; it was driving him nuts. How could he not think she wanted what he was thinking she wanted? He reached across the table and took her hand in his.

"If that's you looking for an invitation, I'll gladly invite you up," he told her, his voice slightly lower than it had been. Stephanie looked at their joined hands and then she just smiled at him and pulled away.

"Wow, breakfast is here," Stephanie said as their food was set down in front of him. He'd gone too far. He knew it, he'd gone too far and now they were in that awkward and weird territory.

"Yeah, it is here," he said, embarrassed now, he'd blown it, completely blown it. But then she went and surprised him again.

"I'm definitely breaking up with Tim."


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the chapter and if you want to review, that'd be cool, thanks. :)

* * *

"Sunglasses indoors, that's quite the look going around Europe, is it?"

"No, not really."

"It can't be comfortable wearing sunglasses," Chris said as Stephanie started to quicken her pace. Chris had to start jogging lightly in order to keep up with her. "I mean, is…is everything okay because you're starting to act like you're training for a triathlon or something."

"It's nothing," Stephanie said as she continued walking, speeding up her pace yet again. Chris caught up to her again and grabbed her arm lightly, stopping her in her tracks and nearly making her trip over. "Chris, let go of me, I have work to do and you're keeping me from that."

"Uh uh, we're friends, remember," he told her. "You don't just blow off your friends and if something is wrong with you, then as your friend, I want to be there to help you."

His intentions were a little more impure than that. He wanted to establish himself as the man in her life. Sure, she still had Tim, but he could start to worm Tim out, be there for her when Tim wouldn't or couldn't. He didn't know when she was going to break up with him or _if_ she was going to break up with him. He didn't know what Stephanie did anymore and it bothered him so he just had to start insinuating himself into her life as much as she would let him.

"Chris, thank you," she said, "but really, can you just leave me alone."

"No," he insisted, "if I leave you alone knowing there's something so obviously bothering you then I'll be distracted for the rest of the night and then I'll probably injure myself during my match and then where would that leave me, I'm still new here, I've got to continue trying to make an impression."

"I doubt any of that would happen."

"Stephanie," he said, lowly, "I know you, Steph, I know how you work and something is bothering you and I just want to know how I can help."

"You can mostly help by letting me just go to my office and getting my work done," she said and he hated that he had to look into her dark sunglasses. She was hiding something and he wanted to know what was bothering her.

"Are you sick?" he asked.

"No, I'm not sick," she told him, then tried to pull away, but Chris wasn't letting her go anywhere. She didn't seem to really mind, though, because she could really just pull away quickly and he would relinquish the hold, but she wasn't. She was just staring at his hand on her arm.

"Come here," he backed them into the locker room that happened to be situated right behind him. The room was empty, thankfully and Chris pulled her inside. "Really, I want to know what's wrong and how I can help, can I take off your sunglasses?"

"Chris…" Her voice was whiny, but in the kind of way that he knew he was breaking her defenses. She wasn't so different from her 17 year old self and in a lot of ways, he still knew every nuance of her voice and body. It was reassuring now because he knew that he could help her with whatever because he could simply read her mood and her eyes, if she would just let him see them.

He reached out gently and placed his fingertips on the sides of her sunglasses, letting them linger there for a moment in case she wanted to reprimand him or pull away. She did neither and so he gently pulled the sunglasses away from her eyes. Her face looked annoyed, but it was more at herself than it was at him. He could tell by the way she huffed out her breath. He pulled the glasses completely off her face and then looked at her as she looked at him. He sighed and just looked at her.

Her eyes were red and puffy and he could tell she'd been crying a lot. He only now noticed how there was a rosy glow around her nose, probably from blowing it constantly and her eyes themselves were bloodshot. She looked like a mess despite her perfectly coiffed hair and smart outfit. She laughed mirthlessly and Chris took her into his arms and she banded her arms around his neck. To her credit, she didn't start sobbing, but Chris could feel her tense as if she was going to cry.

"What happened?" he asked her softly.

"I broke up with him," she whispered back. "On Saturday and I've spent the past day and a half just crying."

"So it was bad, huh?"

"It was bad," Stephanie nodded and Chris led her over to the couch and sat the both of them down. "I mean, he wasn't mean or anything, but it was just this long, hard discussion and so many things were brought up and he was so…just upset, with me, with the situation, with everything and…he'd bought me a ring."

"Oh, Steph," Chris said and even if he had wanted them to break up, he wasn't without pity and he knew Stephanie had loved this guy. His heart panged, though, at the thought that she could have been engaged to this guy.

"He still proposed. We were in the middle of this break-up and he still proposed, promised me that we could work this out, that he could find some kind of place in the company if that's what it took, but we're just…we're not on the same page and what kind of person would _I_ be if I just took him out of his environment."

"I'm sure you had the best intentions going into it."

"I did," she nodded. "I didn't want it to be so bad, but I broke his heart. He had all these plans for us and he _loved_ me, Chris, he really loved me and I crushed him and I've never done that to anyone and you should have seen the look on his face when I left. It was…like I shattered his dreams."

Tears were welling up in her eyes again and threatening to tumble over into a waterfall. She valiantly held them in, but there was only so much of that she could do and before she could even try to control it, the tears broke free from their temporary home and ran down her face. Chris tenderly reached out and wiped them away with his thumb as they eked their way down her face.

"Steph, you did the right thing. If you weren't happy then it's better to do it now. What if he had proposed or what if you had gotten married and stayed unhappy, that's not fair. You did the right thing for you and in time, he'll see that you're doing the right thing for him as well."

"I feel so horrible for doing that to him, I've never had to dump anyone before, not like that, I mean, you were the only other serious relationship I've ever been in and we parted on good terms and you didn't look at me like he did and…I broke his heart and I do love him, but our lives are just…he said he was willing to travel though so maybe I should have just accepted that and then we both could have been together on the road and I wouldn't have…I'm a horrible, horrible person."

"No, God no, Steph, of course you aren't," he told her, hugging her again. "Steph, you're one of the most wonderful people I know."

"I haven't felt like this since we broke up," she admitted. "I cried for days after you left."

"You did?"

"Yes, I did, my parents thought I was just getting over my crush, but you left and I hated leaving you and it was terrible and I feel like I did then, so helpless and alone and…I'm sorry, look at me, acting like you're my personal problem-solver or something," she pulled away and wiped at her eyes with her hands. "Thank God I didn't wear makeup or I'd look like a raccoon."

"I can't believe you cried for days after we broke up."

"Great, now I look even more pathetic," she said, giving a short, dry laugh.

"No, I just, I don't know," he shook his head. He didn't want to admit that it made him feel good to know he made that kind of impact on her life. He knew she loved him and that should have been enough, but knowing that it was very hard for her to get over him gave him a sliver of satisfaction. He didn't want to act cocky or anything.

"Maybe I should call him, just to see how he's doing and-"

"Probably not the best idea, Steph," he told her.

"You're probably right," she said, "thank you for listening to me. I should have known it would be so hard. I should have known, I really tried to make it gentle, but God, I probably came off like a spaz and he probably hates me now."

"I don't think anyone could hate you after loving you."

"And he truly loved me! Chris, you should have seen the ring," she was nearly in hysterics again and he had to calm her down. He brushed his hand over her head over and over again. Stephanie looked up at him and then looked away, comforted by the gesture it seemed. He was glad he could give her that comfort.

"You're going to be fine and he's going to be fine too."

"I know, I just feel guilty right now and like I stole someone's future."

"You didn't. He'll realize that when he finds someone new and you'll find someone," he didn't add the new part, "and then you'll realize how good things are and how you were right to do what you did."

"You're the best, Chris, you really are," she told him, throwing her arms around him. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're back. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here again. You have no idea how much I missed you and your friendship and just…if I didn't have you here, I'd be thinking about him and how I ruined him and then…no, I can't think about that."

She whispered the last part to herself and she started to pull away from Chris. He gave her a supportive smile and she tried to smile back before leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek in thanks. She ended up getting the corner of his mouth and when she pulled away, she stared at him for a second in awkward silence before she leaned forward again and pressed a kiss to his lips. It wasn't necessarily passionate, but it was a kiss nonetheless and it shocked him. He stared at her for a moment before it was his turn to lean forward and kiss her.

It felt familiar and warm and just…nice. It was nice and comfortable and like sitting next to a warm fire after a day out in the snow. Stephanie's hands were pressing against the sides of his jaw and suddenly she was straddling him and breathing him in like she wanted every breath of his body to flow into her lungs. He held her by the waist as she rose up on his lap and he let his fingers trail under the sides of her shirt. When that familiar feeling faded, it was left with a new feeling, like this was where they had been, but there was a maturity to her movements. Gone was the timid 17 year old who felt like she couldn't measure up to his experience. She was confident and in charge and it was nice to connect the familiar with the unfamiliar.

All too soon it was over and Stephanie's eyes widened and she scrambled off Chris's lap, "I shouldn't have done that."

"Stephanie," Chris called for her and reached for her.

"No, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, Chris, I just…I don't…I'm sorry, I don't feel like that for you and I just took advantage of you," she quickly left the room. Chris let her words sink in. She didn't feel that for him any longer, she didn't what? Want him? Love him? Didn't want to be with him? She looked terrified and guilty and she didn't want him? She didn't have feeling for him anymore, they'd faded and there was nothing there left but friendship? Well that only made him think one thing.

Stephanie was a liar.


	36. Chapter 36

"Stephanie, can we please talk?"

"Chris, I'm working, please leave me alone," she wouldn't even look up at him when she said that. He stood in front of her desk and didn't move, just staring down at her. "If you don't have any business to discuss with me, then I suggest you leave and let me get back to my work."

"You can't just kiss me and then-"

"You kissed me," she insisted, "and it was nothing."

"No, don't even try to pull that one, Stephanie, I know you better than that," he argued, taking a step forward. "You kissed me first, you were the one that kissed me, why did you do that, Stephanie? I need to know why you did that."

"It was a mistake," she said, still not looking up at him. He really wanted to reach out and lift her chin towards him, get her to look him in the eyes, but she was already scared and he didn't want to scare her completely away. What had just happened, happened for a reason and he needed to know what that reason was. If she was feeling even a small amount of what he was feeling, he had something to work with.

"Why was it a mistake? You're not with anyone and I'm not with anyone," Chris pointed out, hoping she would see they were two consenting adults who kissed.

"Because I just broke up with my boyfriend, I shouldn't be kissing my exes when I just broke up with my boyfriend and I'm upset and I didn't think about what I was doing and that's it, that's all it was and for you to even make it appear like it was more…"

"Is that the only reason?" he asked.

"Is what the only reason?"

"Is the only reason you ran out and the only reason you're upset because you feel like you shouldn't be kissing another guy because you just broke up with Tim?" Chris asked her, wishing she would just look up at him already. It was getting unnerving talking to the top of her head.

"No, it's not just that," she told him. "Like I told you, I don't have those feelings for you any longer. I did…a long time ago, but we've both grown up and we've both moved on and I don't want you getting the wrong idea about the both of us."

"Who said anyone was getting the wrong idea?"

"Well, you're in here, aren't you?"

"Because I really just want to know what's going on," Chris said, "I know we're friends, Stephanie, we'll always be friends, but you can't just kiss me and then run off. It just doesn't work that way, okay? I'm just in here trying to figure out what's going on."

"We're too close," she told him. "I think that we should just take a step back from this friendship."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that," he took another step forward and placed his palms on top of the desk, leaning forward. "If you want to do something as rash as cut me out of your life, I want you to look me in the eyes when you say it."

Stephanie took a deep breath and looked up at Chris. "Chris, please leave, I don't think I can see you right now. I just…I think we should take a step back from our friendship before you start to get ideas."

"Am I the only one getting ideas?" Chris asked.

She narrowed her eyes, "I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Why would you insist that we not be friends unless you felt something when we were kissing? It's okay if you felt something, it's nothing to be ashamed of and it doesn't mean that you aren't upset about what happened with Tim. It just means that you have feelings for me."

"Who said anything about having feelings for you?" she wondered. "I never said anything like that. I got over you a long time ago. I…I haven't wanted you like that in years…"

"Then why are you so upset right now? Why are you trying to push me away unless you're scared? I'm not going anywhere, Stephanie, I'm here now, I have a contract and I feel like my talents are best used here."

"I don't care about things like that," she shook her head. "I just think that you're going to start wanting more and I'm not…I'm past that part of my life. I mourned the loss of our relationship, but then I picked myself up and moved on and I don't have those kinds of feelings for you any longer. The kiss was just…I was just upset."

"I don't believe you."

"What do you mean you don't believe me, I just told you what happened, why I did what I did and so how can you not believe me, I'm _telling_ you."

"Yeah, but I think you are lying to me," Chris told her.

"Why are you even making such a big deal out of this?" Stephanie asked him. "We haven't even been together for years. I don't understand why you want to make this into a thing. It's not a thing, I don't feel like that for you, you don't feel like that for me, let's drop it and move on, please."

"I'm not going to drop it," he told her and he wasn't. He was going to get to the bottom of this if it killed him. He just couldn't let Stephanie go like that. It wasn't in him to do that. He'd let go of her once and if there was a chance, a second chance, he wasn't going to let her push him out before he could grab it.

"Then I'm going to," she said, gathering up her papers in her arms and standing up. She stepped to get around her desk, but Chris got there first and stood in front of her. She went around the desk to the other side and Chris moved there as well. "Chris, do you understand that I could have you fired if I wanted to or suspended so I think you should move and let me go."

"No, I'm not going to do that," he said, moving in front of her again. "You're not going to just walk out on me, Stephanie. I want to know what's going on in your head and until I do, I'm not letting you go anywhere."

"Chris, just stop it, I don't know what you think is going to happen here, but whatever it is, it's really not going to be whatever you want."

"What do you think I want?"

"I don't know," Stephanie shrugged. "I just know that I want to get out of her and if you don't get out of my way, I'm going to start getting upset with you and you don't want that to happen because I have power around here and you're the new guy and I can…do stuff to make you leave."

"I don't think you'll do that, you still care about me."

"Of course I _care_ about you, but that's as far as it goes," she told him.

Chris had to make a decision. If he put it all out on the line and she really didn't reciprocate, then he was going to be embarrassed, but if he did put himself out there and Stephanie did want him back as much as she wanted him back, then this could be the best option. He had to get her to see that the kiss was not just a kiss, that there was a lot to go with that kiss, a lot of history, a lot of feeling, a lot of everything they could still have.

"I went to your graduation," Chris told her and Stephanie looked at him blankly and he didn't blame her, he just kind of threw it out there without any kind of explanation or reasoning.

"My what?"

"Both, actually, I went to your high school graduation and your college graduation," he admitted sheepishly. She still looked confused so he continued, "I just couldn't bear the thought of you going through all that and me not getting to see it. I always believe in you and seeing you finally finish, I was there. I didn't want you to know because it might seem creepy, but I was there."

"Why?"

"Because…at the time, I had no idea," Chris said. "I cared, I guess, I just was so proud of you and I wanted to see you achieve something I always knew you would achieve. Then I came back here and I saw you and I talked to you again."

"Chris, what are you saying here?" Stephanie asked.

"We never really ended," he told her, pouring his heart out now. "I mean, we did, but even you have to admit that it was because we were driven apart and not because we necessarily wanted it. Stephanie, if I'd never left, I would've never left your side."

"Except we did end," she said, placing her papers back down on her desk. "We did have to end because you left and we moved on, you moved on, right?"

"Yeah, but you were always at the back of my mind, wasn't it the same with you? I mean, didn't I stay at the back of your mind too? Didn't you think of me while I was gone too? We loved each other. That just doesn't end, does it?"

"No, of course not," Stephanie said, "I thought of you, I thought of you all the time, but we couldn't live in the past. I couldn't live my entire life hoping that you would come back into it. I just couldn't live that way so I had to let it go."

"Did you though? For good?"

"Yes, of course," she told him. "I mean, I'm much older now."

He laughed, "You are?"

"Yes, I am, I'm more mature and everything and I've learned to move on from things, I'm sorry if you haven't," Stephanie said, trying to shrug him away, but he wasn't buying into her act. That's what he thought it all was, just an act. Why she was acting, he didn't know, but she was acting nonetheless.

"Stephanie, it's not a matter of maturity and moving on, we both pretty clearly proved that we moved on, but maybe we were supposed to in order to gain some perspective and realize that what we had was good. I think you kissed me because you wanted to and I think you broke up with Tim because there's something still there between us."

"Wow, way to project there, Chris," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "You don't know anything about me."

"I do, I know a lot about you," he told her, reaching out and cupping her cheek. "You know that I know about you, Stephanie. I want to know everything about you now though, everything I've missed and everything that I haven't missed, but want to get to know again. Can't you give us that chance? That's all I'm asking for, a chance."

"Stop it, Chris, it's over between us," she said, but her voice wavered slightly. He took a step closer, but she took a step backwards. "This really is subordination, I could have you suspended for this, you know."

"I don't think you would, Steph," he said, stepping closer again. "Please, just a chance."

She stared at him and then blinked and when she opened them again, they were starting to turn red, as if the tears she'd just been shedding before their kiss had found their way back into her eyes and ready to fall again, but for entirely different reasons. She stared at him and then tried to stare away, but his eyes were so focused on her that her eyes traveled back to his and searched them. He put every earnest thought he'd had since seeing her again into his expression, trying not to outright beg, but showing her, in however way he could that whatever they had wasn't over, that they could never really be over until they finished what they'd started years ago.

"Okay…a chance."


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

"I brought you some coffee."

Stephanie looked up and gave Chris a small smile. "You didn't have to do that. I could have gotten coffee on my own, you know."

"I know, but since we talked last night and you said you had to come in super early, I figured I would bring you a coffee since you might not have had the opportunity to get one," Chris explained to her as he set the coffee down on her desk. "I hope you still like what you did back in the day, I couldn't remember even though I know we've gone out for coffee."

"A girl never changes her coffee," Stephanie joked as she reached for the cup and took a life-affirming sip.

Chris took a sip of his own coffee and sat down. After Stephanie had told him she was willing to give what they'd had a chance, a _real_ chance, he'd decided to back off just slightly and not come across like a crazy stalker guy who wouldn't take no for an answer. He explained that he would do this slowly and let her heal from her break up with Tim, but that he was going to be around and wanted to be there for her. In order to do that, he'd decided that he was going to come visit her in Connecticut, which she didn't oppose to and he was staying at a hotel so it wasn't weird for her, but he was definitely insinuating himself in her life.

"Good, I didn't want to come in here only to have hot coffee thrown on me by an irate, crabby person," he winked at her over his cup and she rolled her eyes and flipped her off. "Wow, do you act that away around everyone now?"

"No, just you," she told him, giving him a coy look. He wanted to say that he was making progress, but he really couldn't tell if he was or not.

He didn't want to scare her off and after his impassioned speech to her, he was left feeling slightly embarrassed about how he'd laid everything on the line. She hadn't run away though and that had to be a good sign and she was very open to hanging out together so he figured she was coming around and all that talk about her moving on and not feeling it, he hoped that kind of talk would disappear soon.

"Well, then I'm going to take away my invitation to lunch," he teased her.

"Is that why you came down here with coffee?"

"It's one of the reasons, yes, I came up here to be with you and I want to be with you and I figured that we could go out to lunch and maybe hang out after work. I could get a pizza and we could watch a movie at your place, does that sound good?" He didn't want to push and he felt like this wasn't pushing.

"That sounds good," she said, "I have to admit, it's nice to know that I won't be coming home to an empty house."

"Don't act like you're an old maid or something," he told her, "you're anything but, you're a gorgeous, beautiful woman and you will not be alone ever because…well, just because."

"You can finish your thought, you know," she said and she was always throwing out things like that, which only bolstered his hopes that things were indeed going his way. He knew that whenever she was over Tim and realized that, he, Chris was the guy for her she would let him know. He just hoped that she rediscovered her feelings for him because the more time with her, the more he fell in love with her even more than he had been back when they were actually dating.

"You won't ever be alone because I wouldn't let you be," he told her and she actually ducked her head a little bit. "Don't act all demure with me, Steph."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," she told him, the left side of her mouth quirking up into a smile. "Sometimes I feel like that 16 year old girl who blushed every time you complimented me. You have no idea how big my crush on you was."

"You were adorable back then," he told her, ducking his own head as he thought about her. "I thought you were the cutest thing, what with those bangs and everything, you were so rad…"

"Oh my God, rad, we were so incredibly lame," she shook her head at herself. "What did you ever see in me back then? I mean, I had nothing going for me at the time. I was awkward and gawky and-"

"Sweet and funny and a friend to me when I really needed one," he told her, looking at her dead in the eye to make sure that what he said was the absolute truth. Every word he was saying was the truth. "You have no idea what you and your brother's friendship meant to me at that time. I was just starting out really, I had never had that kind of responsibility and suddenly I'm thrown in with the big dogs and yeah, I was just a jobber, but I was still surrounded by all these guys who saw me as nothing but someone to make them look good and you and Shane actually treated me like a human being."

"You're one of the best people I know, Chris, no matter what happens between us, believe_ that_ at least."

"Has Tim been by to grab his things?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't going to be a sensitive subject. It wasn't like he was trying to push her to get over her ex-boyfriend, but he just wanted to know how things were progressing.

"Not yet, I've got everything pretty much packed up and sitting in a box by the door whenever he wants to come by and get it, it's really on him though," Stephanie shrugged. "I told him that he could drop by whenever he wants to so I'm sure he will at some point."

"Have you talked to him? I mean, really talked to him?" Chris wondered.

Stephanie shook her head, a few wisps of hair clinging to her lip-glossed mouth. "No, because I've thought about it and there's really nothing to talk about anymore. We just wanted different things and it's better that we got that out now instead of prolonging it. He wants a housewife, someone to come home to, who will cook and clean and have lots of babies. He wants that traditional life and I don't. I want to travel and run this company and be onscreen and that's my life and yeah, I think the marriage and the babies and the cooking will come later, but that's later."

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Yeah, I know, you're biased though because you want in my pants," she teased and Chris nodded eagerly.

"If there's any possibility of that, I'm not going to turn it down," he told her, wiggling his eyebrows lecherously. "I better let you get this work done though so you can eat lunch at a normal time and come home at a normal time so we can hang out. Hey, you know what, why don't I come over to your house, we'll go rent a video at the video store, grab the pizza together and then go back to your house."

"Okay, I'm all for that," Stephanie said. Chris nodded and stood up, intending to let her get back to her work. "Oh wait, Chris, hold on."

"Yeah?" he asked, turning back around to look at her. She stood up from her desk and went over to the couch in the corner of her office and grabbed her purse. She rooted through it and found her key chain, pulling it out and taking a key off.

"Here, this is my house key," she told him, "you can go hang out at my house if you want. You don't have to go back to your hotel room, which I imagine it probably horribly boring because it's a hotel room. So go to my place, hang out for a while, make yourself at home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course," Stephanie told him, "You're my friend and…other stuff, so you should be able to go there and just hang out, I really don't mind. You can come find me for lunch if you want or we can skip lunch and just do the dinner/movie thing."

"No, I'll be back for lunch," he told her.

"If that's what you want," she told him.

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, "It's what I want."

Stephanie grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze before she went back to her desk and sat down. Chris stood there for a moment watching her before he left her office and went down to his rental car. He knew the way to Stephanie's house since he'd been there everyday for the past few days and so he didn't get lost and arrived in good time. He had a few hours to kill before he could pick her up for lunch so he would just have to find something to occupy himself. He let himself in the house and saw the box waiting for Tim sitting by the door. Chris was tempted to look at it and knowing she wasn't there, he knelt down and pawed through it a little. There was nothing really of note inside of it, shirts, a couple CDs, but nothing that was at all interesting.

Chris wandered into the living room and just looked around. He'd been in here a lot over the past few days so he bypassed that and just went on a tour of the house, minus Stephanie's room because that was her private area and he didn't want to be that guy, the one that creeped around her things. Instead he went into her office, which he'd never been in before since they usually stayed downstairs and his eyes widened at the entire wall covered with shelves and shelves full of video tapes. He had his own massive collection, but this was insane. Chris went over to the wall and looked at them. They were all labeled and she had some rare stuff in this collection, wrestling from the 60's and 70's and he was in awe of what she had. If he hadn't loved her already, this would have done the trick quite well. He walked around the room and eventually came to a lowly bookshelf, which looked so out of place with the videotapes. There were various wrestling biographies and other assorted wrestling reading, which he found sweet and then he noticed something that caught his eye immediately.

He pulled the small notebook from the shelf and looked at it, his hand running over the cover. He couldn't believe she still had it after all this time. It was the notebook he'd given her for her seventeenth birthday, the day they'd started dating, when he'd kissed her for the very first time. His smile turned nostalgic and he opened it, seeing that it was filled with different notes and things, nothing too long and he picked a page at random.

_Tell Dad that I think his new ideas are lame. Wrestlers shouldn't have to look stupid all the time._

_If I were writing for the WWF, I think I would do things differently. Find a way to make Dad listen to your ideas so that he doesn't think you're a stupid kid anymore. I have better ideas than Shane anyways._

Chris laughed as he read over the notes in them. He flipped through a couple pages and saw it was much of the same thing. She had some proposed storylines, things that sounded like they would have made for great television. He wondered if she'd ever actually brought this up with her dad because she would have come up with some exciting storylines. He continued to flip through, impressed that she had so many ideas that went seemingly unfulfilled when his name caught his eye. He stopped and read it.

_I wish Chris were here, I would put him in a storyline with Shawn Michaels. I've looked at his overseas matches from Japan and the stuff he's done recently in Mexico and he would've been such a perfect fit against Shawn. I miss him._

Chris closed the notebook and put it back on the shelf. He would have killed to have a program with Shawn Michaels, absolutely killed to have one. To have Stephanie have such confidence in him, even after he'd left and the fact that she'd watched his matches from Japan and Mexico had to mean something. She'd kept her own tabs on him. It might not have been traveling to see her graduate, but in her own way, she'd kept her tabs all the same.

"You ready?" Stephanie stood up later that afternoon when Chris came to pick her up for lunch. Chris walked straight up to her and grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her. He pulled away and she looked a little dazed. "What was that for?"

"Everything."


	38. Chapter 38

"Everything?"

"Just, you're so beautiful and wonderful and I'm so lucky to know you," he told her. He didn't want to tell her what he read, but he wanted to relay how it made him feel. He had no idea Stephanie had really paid attention to him as much as she did. It was one thing to say it to be polite, but she had kept up with him. She had cared enough to wonder what was going on with him after he'd gone and it was such a great feeling to know he hadn't been alone all those years ago.

"Okay," she laughed as she grabbed her purse hanging on a coat-rack in the corner. "Are you ready to go to lunch?"

"Of course I am, I'm here, aren't I?" Chris said, grabbing her hand and kissing her cheek.

"Okay, you're being weird," Stephanie said, squeezing his hand, "you're being more affectionate than you were. I thought you told me you were going to back off a little and not pressure me into anything."

"Am I pressuring you?" he asked fretfully. He really didn't want to push her so much that it pushed her right away from him, but it was so difficult to contain his feeling sometimes. He just wanted to stop wasting time and be with her, but he knew that it wouldn't be that easy. She'd just come out of a long-term relationship and he didn't want her to see this as a rebound, but as a viable relationship.

"No," she scrunched up her nose sweetly as she leaned over to kiss his cheek back. "I was just joking with you, I don't mind. I told you that I was willing to try this whole thing again and I am, I'm not lying. I want you to feel comfortable around me."

"I already do, I always have," he admitted. "That's why I was drawn to you and your brother. You guys just made me feel so welcome, so…at home when nobody else really did. I kind of feel like that right now if I'm being honest."

"What are you talking about? People like you," Stephanie looked at him like he was crazy as they stepped onto the elevator. "You have friends here."

"But I also have guys who still see me as the enemy since I came from WCW," Chris shrugged. "I don't know how to make _that_ go away. Plus, I think some of the WCW guys talked to some of the guys here about me."

"And said what?"

"I don't know, but I just get the vibe from some people that they think I'm a threat and it's flattering in a way," Chris said with a smirk, "but in other ways, I wish it wasn't like that. I just want what everyone else here wants, a chance at the top, the chance to hold the belt, you know what I mean."

"Of course I know what you mean," Stephanie said, "and you will get that shot. When you came back, I may have put in a few…thousand good words for you. Not that you needed it because my dad already knew what you could do and Shane was in your corner as well, but I like to think my word meant a little something."

"It means everything to me," he said as the doors opened to let someone else in. It turned out to be Linda and she smiled at the two.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?" Stephanie asked. Chris wondered if Stephanie was going to let go of his hand, but she made no move to and Linda glanced down at their clasped hands before looking back up at her daughter's face.

"Nothing much," Linda said, "just making a trip down to marketing. Where are you two headed?"

"Chris is taking me out to lunch," Stephanie grinned at Chris, who gave her a tentative smile back. Though he knew Linda and Vince well, he'd never been introduced as Stephanie's boyfriend to them when they were together before and he wasn't sure that Linda or Vince had ever been told the true nature of his relationship with Stephanie.

"That's nice," Linda said, "you two look like you used to, always hanging out and everything. I bet you're glad that Chris is back so you can go back to being friends."

If Chris wasn't mistaken, Linda was sending a surreptitious look towards Stephanie, one he couldn't decipher completely, but could glean onto the meaning pretty well. Linda seemed to be looking at Stephanie knowingly, like she knew something. Chris desperately wanted to ask Stephanie if Linda suspected or somehow knew about the two of them. The elevator dinged for the marketing floor and Linda waved the two of them off before leaving them alone again. Chris let out a sigh as he looked towards Stephanie.

"Does your mom know about us…from before I mean," Chris turned to her.

"No, but she suspects it, I think or at least she knows I had a raging crush on you," Stephanie answered. "I don't think she knows that we were really together and that we were _together_. She knows I slept with Tim, but I don't think she realizes he wasn't the first guy I was with."

"Oh, good, I was so scared she would know and everything," Chris shuddered comically. "It looks like she suspects something is going on now."

"Well, there is, isn't there?" Stephanie shrugged. "Plus, we're both adults now so we don't exactly have to hide that there's something between us. In fact, I don't think I would care if my parents know that we were together before, or your dad for that matter, I know your mom knew about us back then so we wouldn't have to tell her anything she didn't already know."

Chris laughed, "I'm still not sure your parents would be that receptive if we told them we were dating when I was in my 20's and you were still in high school. Your dad could probably still fire me for that and I'd rather not get fired right after I signed a new contract. I'd probably have to go crawling back to WCW and Bischoff."

"I can't have that," Stephanie told him as they finally reached the ground floor. Stephanie led him out and then Chris led her towards his car. "Tim called me when you were gone."

"He did?" Chris asked. "What did he want?" They both climbed into the car and they sat there for a second, leaning in towards each other so they could easily talk.

"Nothing much. He just still has some things at my house and wanted to know when it would be convenient for him to pick the stuff up. I told him that he could come by any time I was at work, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Now I know this is going to sound weird and you probably won't want to do this, but I was hoping you could maybe be there when he does. I don't think he's necessarily a thief or anything, I just don't feel comfortable having him around my stuff anymore. Plus, when he leaves, you could get the key from him. Is this weird territory? I mean, he's my old boyfriend and you're my old new something…"

"It's okay, I'll do it if you want me to," Chris told her, giving her a smile. "I'm just happy you can trust me with something like this. I want to help you out. I told you, I'm really trying hard not to push you because I just don't want to screw this up again."

"Again? Chris, you didn't screw anything up the first time." She paused and looked at his face, tilting her head a little. Chris reached back and turned on the car so he could roll down the window and get some air in the car. It might also be so she wouldn't look at him with such an open expression of curiosity. He didn't necessarily mind being exposed to Stephanie in some ways (not the pervy way…okay, the pervy way), but sometimes he liked to try and keep his cards close to his vest. "Chris, do you think you screwed us up the first time?"

"I'm the one who left," he said, finding the gear shift pretty fascinating right now. "I mean, you're not the one who left."

"Chris, you had things to do, things you wanted to accomplish to become a better wrestler," Stephanie shook her head as if it was preposterous that Chris could blame himself for what happened and as far as she was concerned, it was. Chris had only excelled at everything he'd learned and now she could say, with all honesty, that he was one of the most well-rounded wrestlers she'd ever seen.

"I know, but sometimes I think about what could've been."

"What could've been?" she wondered.

"I don't know," Chris said, but in a way that seemed like he knew exactly what he would have wanted to happen. "I guess…I guess eventually we would have told people…once you turned 18 of course and then we'd get married at some point and have the kids and whatever."

"That's a really sweet picture," Stephanie said.

"But then I think to myself, I wouldn't have wanted that for you," Chris told her. "I wouldn't have wanted you to get married at 18, not lived life, so I know that this way is better. I'm just luck you're actually giving me another shot. I really don't think I deserve one."

Stephanie scoffed and looked at him. "You know, I've always hated when people say that, 'I don't deserve you,' or 'you're too good for me,' I just don't subscribe to that way of thinking. I hate when people think like that because I don't think anyone is more or less deserving. If I want to be with you, then I'm going to be with you and that's it, that's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned. Look, I know we're not _officially_ together, but we're getting there. Spending more time together…Chris, I'll admit that I never really got over you."

"You didn't?" Well this was news to him, but he couldn't say that it was unwelcome, not at all, he was actually glad to hear it.

"No, of course not. Are you kidding me? You were my first love and I'll tell you, when you told me you actually came to my graduation, there was something about it that thrilled me, that made me giddy to think you'd not forgotten me. I didn't know who you were with while you were gone, but sometimes I would just hope, for a second, that maybe you were still thinking about me. I didn't expect you to be celibate, I wasn't, but I don't know, I guess we all have our romantic notions, right?"

"I always thought about you, you know that."

"No, I knew that, you sent me the cards and what not," Stephanie told him, "but those sometimes felt like they were just, 'well, there's this girl and she used to be in my life and I took her virginity the night before I left her and I feel guilty,' but—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not what that was about," Chris interrupted.

"I know that now, believe me, I know," Stephanie said, "but you have to remember, I was still a teenager, but the fact you traveled all the way to see me. Nobody but you would do something that absolutely crazy."

"So you liked the gesture."

"I've liked all these gestures," Stephanie leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her lips lingering a little longer than a casual kiss would. Chris reached his hand up and pressed it to her cheeks, rubbing her jaw with his thumb. Stephanie pulled away a moment later, her eyes bright and on fire, "I like _you_, Chris and the only reason I'm not jumping into bed with you right now is I want to make sure that I'm still in love with the guy that you are now and not the guy you were then."

"I understand, believe me, I get it, you need time and I'm willing to do that and I'm getting to learn about you along the way."

"Good, because I want to be on the same page. We're both different people now," she explained to him, "and I want to be in love with you and not some phantom of you that I've kept in my head for the past several years."

"So you're saying that once you get to know me, I'm going to be invited back into your bed?" he asked playfully and she slapped him lightly on the chest before turning to put her seatbelt on. Chris took the hint and put his on as well before he started the car, pulling it out of the space and starting to drive to the place he wanted to take her.

"I think it'll happen sooner rather than later."


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate those of you who take a few seconds to drop me a line, makes my day. Hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

* * *

"Not going to lie, this feels like boyfriend territory."

Stephanie looked up at Chris, a small smile gracing her face as she bit her bottom lip a little bit. She shrugged, "It could be. But maybe it could be _after_ Tim comes over and collects his things? That way it's not even more awkward than it has the potential to be?"

"Nothing is going to happen. He's going to come over, take his things," Chris gestured towards the couple boxes sitting by the front door for easy export then I'm going to take his keys, and it'll all be done with."

"_You_ make it sound easy, but I highly doubt it's actually going to _be_ that easy," Stephanie told him.

"It will be, there's been time since the break-up, enough for him to get over it."

"You didn't get over me," she pointed out.

"Wow, someone is a little bit cocky," Chris told her, but it was clear he was joking. She shrugged and then pointed to herself with both her index fingers, running them up and down to show herself. "Oh, someone is a _lot_ cocky."

"Well, you were the one who came to me to profess your undying love for me," Stephanie told him with a wink. He scowled at her, pretending to be affronted by her words. She came around the counter that separated them and hugged him around the waist. She leaned her chin on his shoulder while he pretended not to notice and ignore her, staring straight forward.

"I don't think that's what happened at all."

"Turnabout is fair play," Stephanie told him. "I mean, when we were together before, let's face it, I was way more in love with you than you were with me."

Chris turned to her this time, studying her face. She didn't look sad or upset, but like she was saying something she really believed to be true, which he couldn't believe. "What would make you say that?"

Stephanie shrugged a little. "I mean, come on, Chris. First of all, I had the hugest crush on you to begin with. I don't think you even really looked at me until my birthday. I mean, you never even gave any indication that you liked me as anything more than a little sister. I thought you were gorgeous, and I really wanted to be with you, and I thought it would never actually happen. Then, I mean, I practically forced you to have sex with me before you left. You didn't want to, but I was like, 'No, you're doing it with me!' So yes, I think it's safe to say I loved you way more."

Chris turned in her arms, looking down at her and shook his head vehemently, "No, you're wrong, you're so wrong."

He couldn't believe she would believe she loved him more, like his feelings were somehow less than hers. Was this the way she'd thought for the past several years? That somehow he had not been as invested? He hated to think that she thought she was some kind of distraction for him, something easy because she was right there. That was never what their relationship was about. It was never something out of convenience.

"Chris…"

"No, you're wrong," Chris told her. "I loved you so much, Stephanie. You have no idea how much I loved you or how hard it was to leave you. It took me months before I even wanted to look at another girl. You got under my skin. You were not more in love than I was, we were equally in love."

She brushed her thumb across his lips, "Thanks for saying that."

"I still think you're cocky though," he teased her, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Now _this_ feels like boyfriend territory," she told him, repeating what he's said earlier.

"Excuse me, I'll save the kissing for later," he raised his eyebrows suggestively and she swatted at him, starting to pull away from him, but he pulled her back and then rested his head against hers. "Why are we up so early?"

"Because I have to get to work, and you said you wanted to spend breakfast with me," she told him. "You could have slept in though."

"It's boring sleeping by myself in a guest room, if I was going to see you today, I _had_ to get up," Chris told her. "Thanks again for inviting me to stay with you, the hotel was getting a little cramped."

"Uh huh, just cramped," she nodded, pulling fully away this time as she went to grab her cup of coffee and stick a frozen waffle into the toaster. "I'm so sure it was just cramped."

"So I wanted to be around you, sue me," Chris told her, coming over and wrapping his arms around her from behind as she pressed the button on the toaster. "That can't be such a crime, besides, you have this big house, all to yourself, and you must get lonely too. I know you, you're just a social butterfly."

"Maybe I'm different now, maybe I'm a loner."

"You? Not a chance," Chris told her, giving her a squeeze as her waffle popped up. She grabbed it and took a bite.

"I really have to go, I'm already running late because you were distracting me," Stephanie said, pouring some coffee into her travel cup. "Are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean, if you want, I can just leave Tim's stuff on the front step and he can leave his key under my doormat."

"Steph, I'm not going anywhere today. I'm in Connecticut because I want to spend time with _you_, there's no other reason for me to be here," he told her. "I can do this, I promise you, it's not going to be bad. We'll just exchange what we need to exchange and be done it."

She sighed, still not convinced, but she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you around lunchtime?"

He nodded, "Of course you will, there's nowhere I'd rather be."

With another kiss to the cheek, she was gone, and Chris was left alone. He grabbed a cup of coffee for himself, and then made his own frozen waffle before wandering into the living room to watch the news before starting his day. He really didn't have anything to do, but he figured he could help Stephanie out by cleaning up around her house. She just didn't have the time t clean up so her house ended up kind of a mess. She didn't employ a housekeeper so things tended to fall behind, he guessed.

He was busying tidying up her DVD collection when the doorbell rang. He looked at it for a long moment before he started walking towards it, dusting off his pants a little before he went to the door. He opened it and Time was a little surprised to see him on the other side. Stephanie had told him someone would be there when he picked up his things, but he believed it would be her mother or her brother or someone like that. Not Chris.

"Oh, uh, hey, man," Tim said.

"Hey, so Stephanie put your stuff into a couple of boxes if you wanted to grab them," Chris said.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Tim nodded. Chris bent over and grabbed the first one, handing it over to the shell-shocked man. Tim disappeared to his car for a moment before he came back where Chris was holding the other box, waiting for him so he could be on his way. "So you couldn't keep away, huh?"

"Excuse me?" Chris asked, not wanting to get into it, but knowing they were about to. Tim didn't sound angry though, which was a relief, but this still probably wasn't going to end well.

"I mean, it was pretty obvious you wanted her, so I guess you're the new boyfriend?"

"No."

"Give it up, man, I've been competing with you since I met Stephanie," Tim told him. "The fact you showed up again, I thought, hell, maybe whatever I thought was between you guys is over, but it's obviously not."

"There's nothing going on, I mean, before."

"And that's why you sent her all those cards?" Tim said. "You think I didn't know about them. She told me all about how you were friends, but how she had such a huge crush on you, how she thought she could fall in love with you if you two were together. I thought her feelings might change, but she kept every damn card, man, she kept them in her nightstand, close to her. I'm not stupid. I knew it was only a matter of time."

"I…didn't know about any of that."

"I should want to punch you right now, you know, but then, I haven't really been competing with you, I've been competing with a ghost of you. Some phantom that was always just that much better than I was. I thought Stephanie I could have it all if you never came back, but you came back then I saw you had a girlfriend, and I thought, okay, so maybe this will all work out because I _do_ love Stephanie, but nope, then I hear you break up with Jessica, so I'm back at square one. I don't know what went on with you and Stephanie, if you ever reciprocated her feelings, but it's obvious you do now."

"I don't know what to say," Chris was being truthful. He really didn't know what to say. He didn't really know much about what Stephanie was like after him, what she did or whom she did it with, but to know that this man, who'd been with her for years, felt like he was competing with Chris, it knocked him off his feet a little bit.

"Nothing to say," Tim said, tossing Stephanie's key onto the table next to the door where she kept her keys. He grabbed the box from Chris's arms. "I guess this is the part where I tell you to take good care of Stephanie, but hell, seems like you did that before I was ever in the picture."

He turned and walked away without another word. Chris could detect the bitterness in his tone from a mile away, but Tim was an adult and realized the situation for what it was. It sucked, and it was the end of something he liked, but he wasn't going to be a whiny child about it. Chris appreciated that. He appreciated that he left without picking a fight or doing something rash. He closed the door, locking it, and then looked at the key left behind. He wondered if he'd ever get a key. He turned back to the house to finish up his cleaning before picking up Stephanie, and he wonder if someday, this house might be his own.

"Hey, I'm almost done looking over this script, give me one second okay?" Stephanie said as she watched Chris walk into her office. She read for a few more sentences then pulled away and looked up at the man in front of her. There were no signs of a fight, which she took as a good sign. "So did everything go okay?"

"Yeah, just like I said, it went without a hitch," Chris told her, omitting everything Tim told him. There were just some things Stephanie didn't need to know, but then, there were some things she should know. "Hey, before we go out and get lunch and do this whole dating thing again, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever thing we have here, I think I should tell you something, it's nothing major, nothing totally out there…I hope."

"You can tell me anything, you know that," Stephanie told him. "I mean, I hope you know that. If we're going to get to know each other now, as we are, we have to be able to tell each other everything, even the really bad stuff that we don't want to talk about."

She made it so easy to fall into conversation with her, to the point where you wanted to spill all your secrets to her like she was some kind of confessional. "I agree," he told her, "I want us to start off on the right foot, you know, where we don't have to hide…from anything or anyone."

"Exactly," she smiled, "I'm glad we're on the same page. So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I read your journal, the one I gave you."

"You _what_?"


	40. Chapter 40

"I read your journal. The one I gave you when we started dating."

"Why in God's name would you do that?" Stephanie asked, staring at him, and suddenly, he felt very naked in front of her, and not the good kind of naked, the bad kind where you felt utterly exposed and vulnerable. Stephanie had a stare nowadays that she didn't have when she was younger. It was harder, much like her father's, and he wondered when she had added that particular stare to her repertoire.

"The other day, when I was home without you, when you told me to go to your house and make myself at home, I was just looking at your pictures and things, just looking around and I saw it, and I couldn't believe you kept it, so…well, I guess I just opened it. I didn't read anything bad, it was just about how you missed me and how you thought I would work well in a program with Shawn."

"I see," Stephanie said. "That's all you read?"

"Yeah, I swear, Stephanie, that's all I read."

"Okay," she shrugged.

"That's it, you're not mad?"

"No, I'm not mad," she shook her head. "You were honest with me, and that's it. I can't make you unread what you read, and it's better that you do know that I missed you, I mean, I _did_ miss you."

"I missed you too," he told her.

"I know," she said, "look, it's not even that big a deal. It was just my way of coping."

"You also followed my matches," he told her, "I mean, I read that too, as long as we're coming out with what I read."

"Of course I did," Stephanie grabbed his hand and pulled him over so he was leaning against her side of the desk, looking down at her. "Did you think I was going to let you go and then just never keep tabs on you? I would love to say that I was impulsive once and flew to Japan or Mexico to see you wrestle, but I don't think my parents would have understood that."

"I would hope you would actually talk to me if you did that," he smiled down at her. She was unconsciously rubbing his knuckles with her thumb, and the move was so warm and soothing. How could she ever doubt that he could love this woman as she was now? If anything, he was falling even more in love with her now than he was then.

Stephanie had been a teenager when he'd fallen in love with her, and he'd barely been out of his teens. Their love back then, though loath to admit it, felt very juvenile now that he was getting to know the adult Stephanie. There was a maturity to their interactions now, and gone was the girl who looked at him with moony eyes and complete adoration. She still looked at him with adoration, but it wasn't the same, it wasn't like she worshipped the ground he walked on.

"Then can I admit something?"

"Oh no, what is it?" he asked.

"I did see you at a WCW show," she confessed. "I didn't go there specifically for you, my father sent Shane and I out on a little bit of a scouting trip since we weren't as immediately recognizable as he was, so he sent us to kind of scope the other half our. I agreed to go because I knew you'd be there, and I wanted to see you. Unfortunately, with us being who we were, I wasn't able to actually get backstage to see you, and when I waited around outside, I'd been told you left early."

"How did I not know this?"

"Because I'm a ninja," she winked. "Shane and I didn't sit ringside or anything."

"But I should have felt your presence," he grinned cheesily at her. She giggled and made a face. "What, you think that I can't feel you when you're around me. I should be able to pick you out of a huge crowd."

"Okay, Mr. Romantic," she joked as Chris pulled her up and made her stand between his legs. He lightly rested his hands on her hips as soon as he let go of her hands.

"I'm just saying," he told her, pulling her a little closer. "I wish I had known you were there."

"You were probably with Jessica."

"We weren't together for _that_ long. It was more a whirlwind thing. I don't know, she was pretty, and with her actually living in Minnesota at the time, it was like, oh my God, I've got to make her my girlfriend before I leave," he said, "there was a franticness about it. But with you, you're here, I'm here, we're both here—"

"Wait, just to make it clear, we're here, that's what I'm gathering," she laughed.

"Shut up," he pulled her closer and leaned in to kiss her softly, nothing invasive or over the top, just a slow kiss, their mouths opening slightly as she stepped in even closer to him. He snaked his hands around to her back, resting them just over the swell of her ass as Stephanie pressed her hands to Chris's shoulder.

"Stephanie," her secretary buzzed from outside. "Your father is here to see you, should I send him in?"

Stephanie pulled away from Chris and pressed the intercom on her phone. "Yeah, sure, it's cool." She straightened out her dress and Chris brushed away a little lipstick that got smudged onto her lips. Stephanie did the same for Chris, running her thumb over his lips, trying to get the pinkness of her lipstick off. He kissed the pad of her thumb before standing up and plopping himself down in her chair.

"Stephanie, I know…oh, hello, Chris, what are you doing here?" Vince asked.

"Chris is taking me to lunch," Stephanie said, placing her hand on Chris's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Oh, well, okay, I just wanted to let you know I wanted to have a creative meeting around 3 this afternoon, and I wanted you to be there. I'm having those who aren't here conference call in. Chris, if you want, you can join us. I can't imagine you're here for any other reason than to be around my daughter," Vince said knowingly, which made both Chris and Stephanie blush, "that's what I thought, I'll see you both at 3?"

"Yeah, we'll be there," Stephanie said, glancing at Chris who nodded his acquiescence because any time he got to be near Stephanie, he wasn't going to pass up the chance. Maybe he could convince her to play footsie with him under the table.

"Have a nice lunch then," Vince said knowingly, which made Stephanie roll her eyes. Sometimes her father could be the most unsubtle man on the planet.

"Does your dad know about us? I mean, before?"

"Maybe, I don't know," Stephanie shrugged carelessly. "It was in the past, they can't punish us for the past. I have an extra long lunch today because I got so much work done, do you maybe want to grab something quick and just eat it at my house?"

"Anything you want, babe," Chris said, "do you think your father would mind us dating now? I mean, not that we are exclusively or anything, but if or when that time comes, he won't hate me, I mean, you're of age now."

"I was of age then, Chris," she reminded him, "age of consent in the state was 17 so we weren't doing anything wrong."

"Yeah, try convincing your father of that," Chris said, standing up and grabbing her hand. "But he wouldn't hate it?"

"Did he look like he hated it?" Stephanie asked. "He doesn't care, he knows you, he likes you. People always think my father is all Mr. I Don't Want My Daughter to Date a Wrestler, but he's not like that, he lets me make my own decisions."

"Just making sure," he told her. "I don't want to run into any trouble. I mean, I know we're not going to go up to them and be like, 'Hey, guess what we did when Stephanie was 17, I banged your daughter!' Shane didn't react well when I told him we were together, and he's just your brother."

"I hope you didn't tell him you banged his sister."

"I was a little bit more subtle."

"Oh good," she nodded. "The past is our business, not theirs. What we did and how we lived back then was not their concern. Besides, it's over now, they can't go back and…I don't know, tell us not to have sex or be together. This is now. Speaking of parents, I'd love to see yours again."

"Really?"

"Yes, I always felt like I kind of got off on the wrong foot with your mother considering she knew about us," Stephanie said, "I would love for her to see that I'm not a little girl anymore. You know, kind of make amends. I know she was worried about you. Did she like Jessica?"

"I never really took Jessica to Canada," Chris admitted. "I just never really had the time."

"Oh," Stephanie said, "but you have some time now, right?"

"For you, I have all the time in the world."

"Okay, again with the cheese!" Stephanie said as they rode down the elevator. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of a few things," he said lecherously, kissing her temple as she playfully tried to move away from him. It was a small space though, and she had nowhere to go so she ended up being pinned to the side of the elevator as he tried to kiss the laughing Stephanie. She kept trying to push him away, but he would just growl and grab her around the waist. They finally reached the ground floor and went to Stephanie's car to get food and go back to her place. It wasn't a long drive since Stephanie didn't live in Greenwich, but right outside Stamford itself.

They brought their food inside and camped out in the living room, spreading their burgers and fries on the coffee table as they sat on the floor. They talked about the show, kept things light as they ate, wondered what Vince might want to go over. They just talked with each other, enjoying each other's company, and laughing with each other. It was so comfortable, and they both knew they were falling headfirst into the dating thing. It might not even be a conscious decision for the two of them, but instead, was just an inevitability. Maybe, even if they had stayed with their former partners, this would have just happened anyways. The ease of their conversation, the way they felt around each other, it was not coincidence. It was borne from a prior love and a new understanding. They were still them, but they were different, in ways that seemed to make them even more compatible.

Chris walked back into the living room after dumping their garbage into Stephanie's trash can. He didn't see Stephanie and figured she must have gone to the bathroom or something. He sunk himself down on the couch, closing his eyes and folding his arms behind his head. He was full from lunch and could probably take a nap right now, but he and Stephanie had to leave soon to get back to Titan for their meeting. He smiled to himself, thinking about how nice that sounded. He wanted a place in Stephanie's life now, and he felt like he was carving a pretty nice niche for himself.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his lap and opened one of his eyes to see Stephanie straddling him. She grinned at him and he opened both his eyes, "What are we doing?"

"Nothing of that sort," she told him, "we have to get back, and I'm not going in to see my father right after doing stuff with you."

"Damn," he said with a comical pout. She leaned forward and bit his bottom lip gently, giving it a small tug before she kissed him.

"We're taking it slow remember?"

"Says the girl straddling my lap and luckily I'm not a teenager because then we'd both be a little embarrassed." Chris finally noticed she was holding something and he looked down at her hand. "That's your journal, why do you have that."

Stephanie thrust it at him, pressing it against his chest so he had to take it. "I want you to read it…all of it."

"What?"

"I want you to read it," she repeated.

"Stephanie, I'm sorry for reading it earlier—"

"No, really, I want you to read it," she told him. "It…helped me cope from missing you so much, and I'd really like for you to read it. Most of it is about you or to you, I would write to you when I was feeling particularly crazy, sad teenager. It's mostly silly teenage girl stuff, but hey, you knew me then, I was melodramatic."

"I wouldn't feel right prying into your personal thoughts."

"Most of them you already know. I just…want you to know everything about who I was," she told him, "that's all."

"And you're sure?"

"I'm positive."


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: Thanks to all those still enjoying this story. This chapter totally took a turn I wasn't expecting the story to take, but I kind of like it, let me know what you think! :)

* * *

Chris looked at the offending item sitting on his bed. He'd put it up here because Stephanie told him to, even though he was still apprehensive to actually read it. She'd said it was okay, but he couldn't help but feel like this was a test. Maybe she didn't want him to read it at all, and if he didn't, she would tell him she was proud of his resistance. Of course, she really could want him to read it.

Chris felt a pair of arms sliding around his waist, "If we don't leave now, we'll be late."

"Sorry," Chris turned his head to the side so he could see her.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just thinking about your diary. I'm not sure I want to read it, Steph. I mean, I appreciate the gesture, I do," he told her, covering her hand with his own, "but I'm just not exactly sure I should be reading your innermost thoughts."

"They're not my _innermost_ thoughts," Stephanie laughed, "those are inside my heads, it's just some thoughts I had back in the day. It's really not that big a deal."

"It is to me," he told her.

"Why?" she wondered.

"I don't know, I guess, it's just I left you, and I'm not sure I want to read about how much you miss me. I never regret getting the extra experience, I just missed you too, and knowing how much you missed me, how much time we missed together, it hurts, you know," he confessed.

"Remember what you said, though," she was going to remind him of what he'd told her, "if you'd stayed, we would have been married by the time I was twenty, and knocked up by the time I was twenty-one or something like that. It's probably true, or we would have broken up because relationships like that don't last."

"And now?"

"Now we're adults, we have different thoughts, different ideals, different goals, and that's what is making us so good right now. We're not jumping into anything, and we're taking the time to really get to know one another. This is an adult relationship, not a child's relationship."

"Yeah…"

"Look, if you don't want to read it, don't," she told him, "I'm just offering it up to you if you want to. It might give you insight into me, who knows. But we should go. I don't want to make my dad wait, he'll probably get the wrong idea if we walk in late."

Chris chuckled, "He really doesn't care about us?"

"He has no reason to," Stephanie shrugged, and Chris could feel her movements against his back. He turned and leaned down to kiss her softly. "What was that for?" she asked when he pulled away.

"No reason, I just like that I can kiss you whenever I want to now, in front of people," he added conspiratorially. "Something I really couldn't do before."

"We aren't officially together, remember?" Stephanie told him.

"When do we get to make that official?" he wondered, staring down at her, his blue eyes piercing her own. She searched his eyes and bit her lip. He leaned forward and captured that lip, kissing it and then giving her a full-mouthed, breathless kiss that left her a tiny bit woozy.

"Are you trying to coerce me?" Stephanie whispered breathlessly, her eyes still closed as she savored the moment.

Chris grabbed her chin in his hand, which prompted her to open them. She was greeted with a warm smile, "Just a little bit, did it work?"

"It might have," she said dreamily, and he smiled at his handiwork. Who knew she still swooned like she did when she was seventeen. He felt proud of himself. He just knew that Tim never made her feel like this. Maybe Tim was just a placeholder, someone to be there before Chris came back and reclaimed his place in her life.

"Aren't we already there anyways? I mean, we hang out all the time, we kiss all the time, we go out, I pay for you, sometimes you pay for me because you have plenty of money, and I don't want to see anyone but you. I think we've also established that we can like the people we are now, and that in the end, we're not _that_ different from how we were, we're actually even better now."

"That's true," Stephanie told him, the corners of her mouth starting to curl up. "I missed you so much when you were gone."

"I missed you too."

"I always kind of hated Jessica, is that bad?" Stephanie asked. "I only knew her for a little while, but part of me couldn't stand her and her place in your life."

"It was probably about as much as I hated Tim," Chris told her with a smirk. She opened her mouth to say something when her phone rang. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's your father, and that we're running late."

"He has always had the worst timing," Stephanie sighed, which caused the memory of their last morning together to float into the room and cover them both like an old blanket. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled away from Chris a bit so she could answer it. "I'm on my way, Dad."

"Okay," Vince said, "I'm in your office, I came to look for you, but I guess you're still at lunch."

"We're just leaving right now."

"If you want to reschedule, I suppose we can do that, or you can be filled in later with regards to what happened at the meeting," Vince said, and Stephanie rolled her eyes. If she missed the meeting, she would never hear the end of it, not to mention, she didn't want to think about what her father was thinking about her and Chris right now.

"We're on our way, Dad, we'll make it in time!" Stephanie told him. "I will see you in a little bit."

"Bye, Stephanie." If she didn't know any better, she would think her father sounded smug.

"Do I want to know?" Chris wondered.

"No, you don't, come on, if we don't leave now, my father is going to think we're having sex right now, and I don't need him ever thinking about that. Then he might put two and two together and realize…oh God, I don't ever want him to find out about us before," Stephanie shook her head.

"Neither do I, I value my life," Chris laughed as she gave him a soft glare. "I'm sorry, but I don't think your dad would ever be okay about the past. I just hope he doesn't suspect anything happened. I know he knew you had a 'crush' on me, but I want that to be all he thinks."

"Don't worry, he wouldn't kill you, I wouldn't let him kill my boyfriend," Stephanie said, grabbing Chris's hand and pulling him out of the room. Chris froze though, taking in her words. A grin broke out on his face as Stephanie was able to pull him towards the stairs.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Chris wanted to make sure he'd heard her right and didn't just have a momentary blackout wherein his fantasies came true.

"You're my boyfriend," Stephanie said, "we might as well call this what it is. We can go slow now, but let's face it, I don't want to see anyone else, you don't want to see anyone else, so why not tell it like it is. We're dating, I want to date you."

"Finally," Chris said with a touch of playful exasperation. "Do you know how long I've waited for you to say that?"

"Not that long," she said, "now if we don't go now, I will renege that offer."

"You wouldn't dare," he told her and she just looked at him as they grabbed their jackets, pulling them on quickly as they darted out to the car.

Chris spent the ride over just thinking about Stephanie, and occasionally looking over at her. Stephanie knew he was looking at her, but she ignored him for the most part, turning up the radio and singing along to it. Chris felt comfortable with the silence. He and Stephanie always had nice silences. He reached over and squeezed her thigh, just a companionable touch, but it made her laugh softly all the same.

The years had let them gain perspective, an understanding they might not have gotten if they'd been together all these years. They knew what they wanted out of this life, and they were here again, but better, just like she'd said. They were going to be better this time. They were going to be freer to do what they wanted. They didn't have to hide, and that meant the world to him. Telling people Stephanie was his girlfriend was going to feel so good.

"Do you want to keep us a secret?" Chris blurted out of nowhere. He wasn't even sure why he asked anyways.

"What?" Stephanie looked over at him, her eyebrows knitting together, "no, of course I don't. I'm not seventeen anymore, Chris, people can't look down on this. Not that they should have then, but well, you know why we had to keep it a secret then, but now, not a chance."

"Just making sure," he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "because I'm thinking I may just go out there at Raw and announce it."

"Not if I'm going to be married to another man on the show," Stephanie said.

"Is this the point in our relationship where I get crazy jealous that you're kissing another guy onscreen and you're going to have a fake wedding? Because I'm pretty sure I can play that part really well."

"No need," Stephanie told him, "Andrew is actually really nice, but believe me, there's nothing there. And why would there be when I've got a pretty great guy right here."

"I'm really liking the dating thing this time around," he joked.

"Don't expect the compliments to come rolling in just because we're together."

"I would never," he held his hands up.

"I still want you to read my journal though," Stephanie told him, "I wasn't kidding about it, and I still get if you don't want to, but I don't know, it's kind of a funny read, at least that's what I think. It's not as serious as you might think, believe me."

"Why, are there entries where you say you hate me for leaving?" he joked.

"No," she told him, "but it's filled with teenage drama, and that in and of itself is pretty damn funny."

"You're never going to get rid of me now, you know that, don't you?" Chris said. "Since you've let me back in your life, you're not going to get rid of me. You're going to have to drag my sorry ass away from you."

"Then why don't you just marry me?" Stephanie challenged him, licking her lips a little as she laughed softly.

"You're joking, right?" Chris shifted so he was looking at her.

"I don't know," Stephanie said, "wouldn't it be crazy if we did? If we just got a marriage license, waited three days, and got married? I mean, we wouldn't really have to tell anyone, right? Why waste the time?"

Chris laughed and shook his head, "Steph, are you crazy? We couldn't do that! Think of how upset everyone would be. I mean, your parents would be devastated, my parents would be devastated. Do you really think we could do that?"

Stephanie frowned a little, but then smiled, "Why don't we just do both?"

"Both?"

"Let's get married, then we'll have a wedding, people do it all the time, so why not us? We could throw a huge wedding in Winnipeg so your mom wouldn't have to travel that far to be there."

"Steph, I love you," she grinned at him, and he grinned back, "you've always known that, but getting married on a whim? I mean, we haven't been together that long this time, and we've only been official for about twenty minutes, why do you want to rush into things?"

"I don't think it's rushing," Stephanie told him, "I just feel…I feel like we've wasted so much time when we can be together."

"We're together right now, and there's no time being wasted if we're together."

"You're right," she sighed, "I don't know, I guess I just thought it would be an adventure, you know. I guess…maybe that seventeen year old is still inside me thinking that you're going to whisk away again. You're right of course, we shouldn't do anything so impulsive, I mean, it's not like we don't have time."

"Let's do it," Chris said.

"What?" she laughed in disbelief. "But Chris, you just said—"

"I want an adventure with you…so let's have an adventure."


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: Didn't know what to update this week, someone suggested I update this, so here's another chapter of this story, hope you enjoy, review if you want! :)

* * *

The first thing they did was go to the town clerk to get a marriage license. There wasn't really time for that though because they were already running late and supposed to meet with her father. Although, neither one would really be able to pay attention while this meeting was happening because they had other things on their mind.

"Do you think I should reschedule with my father?" Stephanie asked as she drove towards Titan. "I mean, if we're going to get married, we should really get the ball rolling. I'm not entirely sure what is needed when we get the marriage license. I want to get over there as soon as possible."

"I think we should go to the meeting," Chris told her, "I mean, we don't really have a great excuse for not going, we're already on our way, and it won't tip your father off to anything we plan on doing."

"You're right, I'm just…happy," Stephanie glanced over at him, her smile luminous as she turned her eyes back to the road. "I'm just happy we're going to be doing this. I wanted to, you know, I mean, I know it's pretty commonplace for a 17 year old to think thoughts like that, but I really thought we'd somehow find our way back to each other, and it would be super romantic, and we'd get married."

"So this is just you living out your fantasies then?" he asked with a laugh.

"Partly," she joked. "I always knew it was going to be you. I think, even when we were apart, in the back of my mind, I always knew it was going to be you…or at the very least, I really wanted it to be you."

"I felt the same way. I think that going to the meeting will also give us a little time to think. I know we're not exactly thinking altogether clearly right now. I think we're caught up in a lot of emotion, and this will give us time to think."

"You mean change our minds?" Stephanie was suddenly concerned. She wasn't going to change her mind. She honestly wanted this. She really wanted to marry Chris, and she didn't care that they hadn't been together for very long; she knew what she felt in her heart was real, and she knew what it was like to be with Chris. This wasn't as on a whim as it seemed. This was borne from years of want.

"No, nothing like that, but I mean, logistically, there are things we have to work out. I'm more than willing to move here for you, that's not even a question," Chris immediately started with that, "I know your job is here, and since I don't really have ties to Florida, I'm fine with moving up here, but do we want to stay at your place or get a new place."

"We can always get a new place, we both have the means," Stephanie shrugged, "but thank you for being willing to move."

"I'm practically moved in already," he chuckled. "Plus, we have to think about where we want to get married."

"A civil service will be fine for now," Stephanie interjected. "I have no problem with one. I mean, we're going to do a real wedding afterwards so a civil ceremony will be nice for now."

"Who do we invite? Do we invite anyone?"

"Well, I'm not sure, what do you want to do?" she wondered. "I'd feel bad if my parents got to come and yours didn't get to come, that's why when we do the real wedding, I want to do it in Winnipeg."

"How about we each invite one person? We don't have to get married tomorrow, we don't even know what the waiting period is for the marriage license. We're going to need witnesses, right? So why not just invite one friend. I could invite Lance, and you could invite one of your friends, are you still friends with that girl, Sheila?"

"Yes, I'm still friends with Sheila," Stephanie smiled inwardly as Chris remembered her high school friend's name. "I could invite Abby, she would probably come, or someone else. It would be nice to have someone there who would get to see it."

"Yeah, that way it makes it a little more romantic and not to clinical, like I'm being forced to marry you because you're pregnant or something," he grabbed her free hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. Today is Wednesday, so we can make an appointment with the Justice of the Peace for Saturday, maybe. That'll give us enough time, don't you think?"

"That sounds perfect," Stephanie smiled, "I like that we're doing this on a whim, but that we're still planning it. It's something we want, not just something we're going to do because we're being crazy."

"I like that part too," he said as she pulled into her spot in the company parking lot. "Come on, we better hurry if we're going to get there."

"Yeah, I know," Stephanie got out of the car, but immediately went and grabbed Chris's hand. "So what do you want to do after the wedding?"

"Definitely need to go back down to Florida to pack up my things. I have a rental agreement, but that shouldn't be too difficult to get out of at this stage in the game. I can have my things shipped here, and we can find places for things until we look for a bigger place."

"I mean, what are we going to do about us, like what are we going to tell people? Are we going to keep this a secret or anything? I don't want to if you're thinking that, but I wasn't sure what you wanted to do about it," Stephanie said.

"I have no problem with telling people," Chris nodded, "I wouldn't want for you to feel put out or anything. I would love to tell people, but what does that do for our other wedding?"

"Nothing," Stephanie shrugged, "I mean, it's not like we can't still have one, it'll be more like a vow renewal. My parents aren't religious, I'm not either, I don't need to have a church wedding. Do you?"

"No, not really," Chris told her, "we can just have a great vow renewal in Winnipeg, and a really great reception. I just didn't know if you wanted to keep it a secret or whatever, I'm really up for anything at this point, I just want to marry you."

"I don't want to hide our relationship, not like before, I don't want it to be like before."

Chris remembered how hard it was before when he had to keep his relationship with Stephanie a secret. Granted, it was for different reasons, but it still made it really difficult. He was falling so rapidly for Stephanie, but he couldn't tell anyone. He had to go out with the guys and pretend like he was interested in all the girls around him when all he really wanted was Stephanie. It was torture of a whole different kind to be in love with someone, have them, but not really have them.

He didn't know if he could do it again. Sure, if Stephanie said she needed it, he would try and do anything for her, but it wasn't something he wanted. To see her walking around without having any kind of claim to her and vice versa, it would not be the way he wanted to start off a marriage. He knew this was going to turn a lot of heads and cause a lot of whispers, but that was the least of his worries. His sole worry right now was making sure that he could make Stephanie as happy as she made him.

"Me neither," Chris said with relief in his voice and in his eyes, "I don't think I could go through that again. I'm not sure I would want to."

"So what, you were just trying to appease me?" Stephanie joked, her voice lilting as he opened the door for her and gave her an exaggerated bow as she walked inside. They went up to the elevators and then rode it up to her floor, sneaking in a few kisses here and there as the numbers rose. When they arrived at her office, Vince was sitting there.

"Dad, I wasn't expecting you to be right here," Stephanie said, not dropping Chris's hands, but not emphasizing that she was holding it. Nonetheless, both of them suspected that he could see it.

"I know, I decided to postpone the meeting until tomorrow since you were both late. I'm not angry, but next time, please try to be on time for these things. I'll allow it today because Chris is here and he's obviously here to visit."

"Yeah, he's here to visit," Stephanie said, but it was unconvincing.

"I'm sure he is," Vince said, "and I know you want to spend time with him, so I'll let you have the rest of the day off, but only today. Just because Chris is here, I don't want you shirking your responsibility. You do have work around here, and you shouldn't be treated any differently from any other employee."

"I understand," Stephanie nodded, but she was trying to contain her excitement. She had the rest of the day off, which meant she and Chris could officially start their wedding plans. She glanced at him, and he gave her a secret smile, winking at her. "I'm sorry we were late, we just got caught up with eating lunch. I insisted on bringing it back to my place when we really shouldn't have."

"It's fine, I'm not angry, it's just one meeting," Vince told her, "the plans can wait 24 hours, believe me, the entire world isn't coming apart. I take it you two are dating now, am I correct?"

"Yes, Dad, you are," Stephanie said, "but this shouldn't come as a surprise to you. Chris and I have known each other for years, and we've been friends for a long time. This was just something that developed from that."

"I'm not angry over it," Vince said, "just curious as to how often I'm going to see Chris trying to distract you from your work."

"I promise it won't happen much," Chris answered cheekily. "I can't help it if I want to spend time around her. I have to make up for the lost time."

Stephanie was glad her father didn't seem to be angry over her and Chris. For one, it meant he had no idea they'd dated in the past that she had lost her virginity to Chris. Second, it meant that when she and Chris told her parents the news, her father wouldn't flip his lid and disown her. She knew he'd probably be upset by not coming to their wedding, but she knew their vow renewal would make up for it. At least she hoped it would, but she wasn't going to invite her parents if Chris's parents couldn't come; it just wouldn't be fair.

"Okay, okay, I don't need a love fest," Vince said, "I'll see you tomorrow, meeting will be at the same time, please don't be late."

"I promise I won't, Dad," Stephanie watched her father give his goodbyes before he walked out. "I thought he'd never leave! Okay, so first things first, let's go to the county clerk and start making arrangements."

"Do you think your dad is going to hate me when we get married?"

"He might, but he'll get over it."

"I just don't want our marriage to get off on the wrong foot," he told her, "I want to make sure everything goes right this time."

"Chris, everything went right the last time, it was just extenuating circumstances that brought us apart. It's not going to happen this time. This time, you're here with the company, and my dad already promised that he was going to push you so much more than WCW ever pushed you. I can't imagine you'd want to leave again."

"I don't, I just don't want things to go sour with your family, I'd hate that."

"It wont," she shook her head. "Maybe I can invite my brother and Marissa, I mean, that would sort of be like family was there…but then my parents would be even more upset, no, we'll go with the original plan."

"How about right after we do it, we go to dinner at your parents?" Chris said. "That way it won't even be a secret for very long."

"Like if we get married on Saturday, spend the night with my parents?" she asked incredulously. "Don't you think we could make better use of that time?"

Chris laughed, "I suppose you're right."

"We'll figure it all out," Stephanie assured him. "Let's just get the ball rolling."

"Okay, to the town clerk it is then!"


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and everything, everyone, I'm so happy you liked the direction this was going in, enjoy, reviews would be lovely if you can! :)

* * *

"So, what are you doing on Saturday?"

"This Saturday, like the day after tomorrow Saturday?" Lance asked, his voice slightly sarcastic, but only slightly because Lance's mood hardly ever changed much.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Chris asked. "Are you and Tina busy? Do you think you can get away for the day? I'll pay for it."

"You'll _pay_ for it, what the hell is going on in Florida that we need to come on Saturday on such short notice?" Lance wondered. His friend calling him out of the blue wasn't unusual, Lance was used to that, but actually flying out to see him on a whim, that meant something was up, but Lance couldn't figure out what this could mean. "Wait, are you going to be winning the WWE title or something?"

"On a Saturday?" Chris laughed, "No, that's not it at all. Are you free?"

"Well, I'd have to check with Tina, but I think we're free, I don't' know of anything we're doing," Lance told him. "I don't have any shows until next weekend. I guess we could come up, but really, Chris, what is this for?"

"I'm getting married," Chris told him, "and I want you to be my witness or best man if that's what you prefer, but it's a civil ceremony, so I don't really think you need a best man."

"Wait, wait, wait," Lance cut into his rambling. "Chris, what are you talking about, you're getting _married_? What the hell has been going on since I last talked to you? I know it's been a couple months, but, Chris, this is kind of out of the blue."

"I know, I know it sounds out of the blue, but it's not, it's something I want," Chris told him. "I know you're going to think I'm making a rash decision, but I'm really not, not this time, not with this."

"Okay, but…I mean, do I even know this girl? I didn't even realize you were dating someone, and don't you think it's a little soon if this is someone new? I get falling in love, I do, I get it because when I met Tina, I knew, but don't you think you're rushing this?"

"It's Steph, Lance," Chris told him. "It's Stephanie, she's the one I'm getting married to on Saturday."

Lance was rendered speechless for the third time in this conversation. He knew Chris still had feelings for Stephanie. When Chris told him he was heading back to the WWF, he'd brought up how it was going to be weird seeing Stephanie again. Lance also knew that Chris went to Stephanie's graduation without her knowing. He'd known for all these years that Chris still held a candle for Stephanie, but now he was _marrying_ her?

"Chris, what the hell happened over the past two months?" Lance asked him. "I don't even understand. I mean, I get that you've never really gotten over her, but you're marrying her now, what is this? I thought you said she had a boyfriend when you called me after your debut…"

"She did, his name was Tim, he wasn't right for her, and don't worry, she didn't break up with him for me or anything. She broke up with him because he wanted her to give up her onscreen role and her traveling to be with him. She dumped him, and I dumped Jessica, and it's just…well, we've been getting closer, and we've been kind of dating for a while now, but not officially, but we're official now and we want to do this."

"You know this is crazy, right?" Lance asked. "I mean, how do you guys even now this will work out? You haven't properly dated each other in years. This could be a huge disaster, Chris."

"I know it can, man, but I don't care," Chris told him, "I love her, I've always loved her. She was the first woman I ever loved, and I didn't care what her age was, and I don't care that we've spent time apart, as far as I'm concerned, I never should have left her. I should have continued seeing her, I shouldn't have wasted those years without her, but we're both better for it, and we're happy, and we want this."

"Are you sure though, you're different people now, you don't know if you're compatible."

"We are, look, this may see like we're rushing this, and in a way, sure, we are, but in other ways, we're not, and I would really like one of my best friends to be there with me when this happens."

"What about her family, what about your family, you know your mom would want to see you get married."

"We're going to do a real wedding in Winnipeg," Chris said, "it was Stephanie's idea because she knows my mom would want to be there. She met her when we were dating before."

"And I'm sure your mom sniffed that relationship out right away, didn't she?" Lance said. Chris's mother was sharp, and with the way Chris and Stephanie were, there was no way his mother couldn't see it if they were together. He didn't understand how Stephanie's parents missed it, but he figured they were busier with the company, and didn't notice their daughter was dating an older man.

"Yeah, she did," Chris chuckled as he thought back to that visit. "But we've decided to do the whole wedding thing afterwards for our families and friends. We just decided to invite one person each, she's going with one of her best friends. We really want this, man, it's not as rash as you would think."

"Are you sure you guys are ready for this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, I've never…she's just, well, she's Stephanie, and I've loved her for years, and I've wanted her for years. Even when I convinced myself I was over her, I really wasn't, not totally. You know this, you know where I was, you know I never stopped caring, you were with me when I bought some of the cards for her."

Lance sighed. It was true, he was there for all of that, he did see all of that, "Yeah, I know, I know you never got over her. I just don't want you to make a mistake. I know you love her, Chris, that's not the problem, but it's the everything after that could bring a lot of drama, especially doing this out of the blue."

"It might, but I know what I want, I know that I love Stephanie, and everything will work out."

Chris sounded so hopeful that Lance was inclined to believe him. "Okay, we'll be there, I'll tell Tina, and we'll be there."

"Awesome, I can like send you plane tickets or—"

"We'll get it, it's fine," Lance told him, "you're in Florida?"

"Connecticut, Greenwich, we're going to do it up here," Chris said, "you have no idea what this means to me, really, man, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll call you later to tell you our flight details."

"Okay, thanks, man!" Chris said before hanging up. He walked into Stephanie's kitchen and was surprised to see someone sitting with her.

"Oh my God, you're him," the woman said, standing up as Stephanie followed suit. "You are _the_ guy. I mean, I've obviously seen pictures and everything, but damn, you are the guy!"

"Lisa," Stephanie hissed at him. "I invited Lisa to be my witness, and she demanded that she drive over her right now and take us out to dinner—"

"Because I need to know who is marrying my best friend," Lisa said, stepping forward and sticking her hand out. Chris shook it and smiled at her. "I'm Lisa, Stephanie's best friend since middle school, and you are Chris Irvine, the guy who broke her heart."

"Lisa, shut up," Stephanie said, "don't mind her, she's kind of crazy."

"Uh no, I'm not, I've waited for so long to meet you," Lisa said, smiling at him, "and I must say, Stephanie has good taste. I mean, I didn't see you back then, but if you look like this now, you must have been cute then."

"Um, thanks," Chris laughed. This girl reminded him of Stephanie back in the day. She had that little bit of flightiness and enthusiasm. "It's really nice to meet you, I remember Stephanie telling me about you, mostly when she talked about her day when we weren't together."

"She's told me a lot about you," Lisa said, "you were the one who made our Stephanie a woman."

"Lisa," Stephanie covered her face and shook her head as her friend laugh. "Okay, now I'm regretting calling you about this."

"No, no, no, don't regret it," Lisa took Stephanie into a hug. "I'm so happy you called me, and I'm so happy that I get to be there for your big day. Honestly, this is a long time coming, you guys. Chris, she was never really over you. Sometimes, she would bring you up, just in conversation, and she'd wonder how you were doing, if you had a match. You two being together, it's right. Back in high school, she would gush about you all the time when we were alone. I was one of the only ones that knew."

"What did she say about me?" Chris asked, glancing at Stephanie, who tilted her head and implored him not to really ask that question. He gave a short shrug, smiling at her. He was curious as to how she talked about, and this was the next best thing to reading her diary, which he still didn't really want to do. It felt like too much an invasion of her privacy.

"She just used to say you were the sweetest, the cutest guy, and she couldn't believe she got someone as rad as you were to actually like her. I think she's still a little shocked about it because she had the hugest crush on you. She would talk all about how you were such a great wrestler, and how you were so sweet to her, but that you didn't think of her as anything more than a little sister until all that changed. How _did_ you get that to change exactly, Steph?"

"I'm not even sure," Stephanie glanced at Chris, giving him a soft smile. "I just know that I did, and that he fell in love with me, and that we're getting married the day after tomorrow."

"Yeah, we are," Chris grinned at her.

"Okay, yeah, I did have my reservations about you two picking it up again, but I can see that you two are serious about each other, which means, Stephanie, I'm going to have to ask you to leave because I need to talk to your future husband."

"What?" Stephanie asked.

"As your friend, I need to talk to him," Lisa started to push Stephanie out of the room. "Go upstairs, actually, no, you stay here, Chris, let's go outside for a moment, shall we?"

"Chris, you don't have to," Stephanie shook her head.

"No, it's okay," Chris said, following Lisa outside into Stephanie's backyard. She walked a ways away from the house, out of earshot from Stephanie and stood there, arms folded as Chris caught up to her. "So what's this about?"

"When you left, I wouldn't say she was like, horrible," Lisa said, "but it was clear that she was upset. You meant a lot to her back then, Chris, and I had to watch as she patched herself together. I know what you guys did, how you ended, was a mutual thing, you both agreed that it was for the best, and you know what, I'm not disputing that it wasn't. I think it was for the best. I know Stephanie has grown, and I'm sure you've grown since then too, right?"

"I like to think so."

"Still, she missed you so much. The first few months, she walked around like a zombie, and she couldn't even tell her parents or most of her friends why. She loves you, she always did, and even as I watched her be with other guys, I could tell sometimes she was looking for bits of you in them. I'm not trying to issue a warning to you or anything, just…love my best friend. Love her, and keep her, and make her happy. I don't want that zombie Stephanie back again."

"I love her," Chris looked over to the house, where Stephanie was watching intently from the window. He threw her a smile, and she pretended like she was doing something. "I won't hurt her."

"Good, I want what's best for her, and it's been clear that it's you since you came back into her life. She would never tell you, and don't tell her I told you this, but the night you returned, she called me up after the show, and she was gushing about how you looked, how good you'd been, the whole nine yards. I knew then that this, whatever you two have, it wasn't over."

"So you thought we'd get back together?" Chris asked her. She shook her head.

"No, I knew you would."


	44. Chapter 44

Stephanie kept looking up at Chris as she tried to do her work.

"You need to leave!" Stephanie told him, imploring him to leave so she could actually get some work done.

"I'm not doing anything," he held his hands up defensively. And he really wasn't doing anything. He was simply sitting in the chair across from her watching her work. Their meeting with her father had gone well enough, there really wasn't much Chris could do since he wasn't part of the creative team, but he tried to put his input where necessary, but felt a little out of place.

"You're bothering me," she said with exasperation, blowing an errant lock of hair out of her face. "Sorry you had to be in that meeting, by the way, it must have been so boring for you."

"I got to be with you, that's the important part," he shrugged, and Stephanie could tell he actually meant that and wasn't trying to garner any points from her. She smiled slightly, not looking up at him, but he caught it anyways. It wasn't that he thought he had to make up for lost time, but he wanted to make up for it. He was going to look at her for the rest of his life, and somehow that still didn't seem like enough time, not nearly enough time.

"You might have to get used to that, you know, since you're going to be part of this family tomorrow," Stephanie looked up at him then, smiling with her entire face. "Not to say that I want to push you into management, but dinners with my family always devolve into work."

He laughed, "I'm okay with that, and maybe someday, I will want to be part of management, I don't know yet, right now, I'm just about the wrestling part of the business, we can worry about everything else later."

"Yeah, of course, I'm not pushing you," she told him with a shrug, going back to her work.

He thought about that concept for a moment as the quiet descended over her office, the only sound being her pen scratching across a piece of paper. He was going to be part of the McMahon family. He didn't know quite what that entailed, but he knew that it was going to be different from his own family situation. He was familiar with all the McMahons, considered Shane one of his best friends, but being friends with a family was not being _in_ that family.

He didn't think they would mind him marrying Stephanie, well, not too much, but the circumstances might not be their ideal situation, just marrying her like he was. He didn't want to change their plans, he liked them, but he knew that there were going to be some unhappy people when it came to their actual wedding.

"Do you think it would be weird if we filmed our wedding?" Chris asked out of the blue.

Stephanie turned her head up, raising both her eyebrows, "That was random."

"I was just thinking about how our parents, especially our moms, let's face it, our dads will probably not care too much, but don't you think our moms might actually care a little that they didn't get to see us get actual married?"

Stephanie contemplated that for a moment. "You know, you're right, they probably would be a little put out that they weren't there, yeah, sure, I'm sure we can get someone to film it or set up a camera, I have one at my place, and I'm sure someone could do it."

"I could ask Tina, Lance's wife."

"Oh yeah, that's a good idea," Stephanie smiled at him, "See, we're already working as a team, when do Lance and Tina come in anyways?"

"You just want to get me out of here, don't you?" he joked, but he knew that he was really bothering her. She had a lot of work to do, and she wanted to get it done before the weekend because well, they were getting married, and she didn't want any of that playing in the back of her brain.

"Pretty much, yes, I have things to do, and you are staring at me like I'm going to disappear, and I'm not, Chris, I'm not leaving your life again, no more random cards, no more not seeing each other, no more mistiming, Just you and me, forever."

"I like that, and I just want to be around you."

"I know, but it's bordering on creepy now," she tilted her head, but gave him a look that said she truly didn't mind. He couldn't believe the love he had for this woman. It was never gone, never, not for one second. It was dormant for a while, yes, he would say it was dormant for a while, but never gone. She never faded from his conscious like other women, but instead flickered and burned all the time, until no woman could ever be her, her fire was everything that kept him warm.

"They're coming in at 6:30."

"Oh okay, and oh yeah, tell Tina that I'd love for her to come out with Lisa and I tonight. We're just going to dinner, and you know, girl stuff, and I'd love it if she could join in," Stephanie said. "It'd be too bad for her if she was stuck with you and Lance all night."

"Okay, I'm sure she'll appreciate that, thanks."

"Hey, we're getting married, we need to incorporate our lives," she told him. "Now, can you get the hell out of here?"

"I'm going, I'm going," he said, standing and walking around her desk to give her a goodbye kiss. She swung her chair around to face him and he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was rather chaste since she was at work, but enough to let her know that he loved her. "I'll see you later."

"Forever," she teased as he left.

Later that evening, Chris and Lance found themselves at a local bar Chris had found while staying with Stephanie. It was attached to a restaurant, so it was rather nice, and they sat there, nursing their beers, and occasionally looking up at the hockey game playing, but since neither one was a Bruins fan, it didn't hold much weight in their consciousness.

"I can't believe you're actually getting married tomorrow," Lance took a sip of his beer as he shook his head. "I mean, I'm not saying you're not the type to get married, but this is all so quick, you know."

"But is it really?" Chris asked.

Lance stared at him for a long beat before caving, "No, I guess not, not with her. Anyone else, yes, but her, I guess not. I just want you to be happy, I know that's what everyone always says in situations like this, but I do, and I know you were happy with her before."

"I was, and I know we were young, and we were different people, but I've been spending a lot of time with her since I debuted again, and it's been good, it's been really good, and the Stephanie she is right now is amazing. She's the best, and I still love her. I love her even more now because she's amazing."

"Do you regret leaving her?"

"Yes, and no," Chris admitted.

It was a sticky thing, thinking back to what he might have done if he hadn't left. He wanted to believe that they would have made it, that they would have defied those odds, but the rational part of his brain told him that it probably wouldn't have lasted. Back then, the age difference was a lot more daunting than it was now. She was still in high school, and if their relationship had come out, they would be in a lot of trouble with her parents. It could have jeopardized both their futures.

But on the other hand, all that time wasted trying to find something he had already had was a little bit regretful. He could have had years with her, and who knew where they might be if their relationship had not ended. They could have already been married, they could have had kids, but it also could have been a disaster. There was no way of knowing, and so he couldn't definitively say one thing one way or another.

"I just, if I'd stayed, I don't think I'd be the wrestler I am now, and I don't think she'd be who she is. I know that she's always been driven, but she might have been pregnant or something by now or…who knows, but then, we lost a lot of time, but maybe that's okay, maybe we needed the time apart, you know?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've done a lot of great things since you've been gone, and you came back better, and that's going to help you with your career. That has to be worth something, if not her, something."

"Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't trade her if it came to that, I would choose her, I know that now, I know that I probably would choose her now over anything, but then, we were both immature in ways."

"So you guys have talked about all this?"

"Yeah, we've had some real heart-to-hearts about everything that happened. She even gave me her diary to read. She wrote about me in there, kept up with my career."

"So you read it?"

"No, I saw a couple things, she said I could read the entire thing if I wanted, but I didn't want to. Those are her personal thoughts and everything, and I didn't want to invade on those, even though she said parts were about me. Sure, I'm curious, but not curious enough to want to actually read the thing," he gave a short, careless shrug. "I love her, that's enough for me. If she ever wants to tell me what she wrote, fine, but if not, that's cool."

Lance nodded, "Sounds like you guys are in an actual better place than I thought you were."

"I told you, we've talked about this, we've been getting closer, and while the timing is fast considering it's only been a short time since I came back into her life, we're there. And it'll work out with our families. I'm sure they'll be disappointed at first, maybe even mad, but we can handle that, and we'll have our wedding, and it'll be ridiculously big because I can't imagin her family wanting anything less."

"You'll just go along with it then?"

"Probably," he chuckled as he spotted Stephanie over Lance's shoulder, "Here they are."

Stephanie came over and kissed Chris's cheek, "Did you two have fun at dinner?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yes, but now I'm ready for some real drinks," she said, beckoning the bartender over. She and Tina ordered their drinks and Stephanie turned to Lance, pressing her back against Chris. "It's really nice to see you again, sorry I kind of stole your wife as soon as you walked in the door."

"It's been a while," Lance said as Chris snuck his arm around Stephanie's waist and leaned his chin on her shoulder.

"Years actually," Stephanie corrected him, "and I probably look a little different than I did back then, plus, you don't have to pretend like Chris and I aren't in a relationship, not to mention you don't have to have that look of disapproval, unless you don't want us to get married."

"He's good with it," Chris told her.

"Okay, then we have no problem," Stephanie laughed.

"I wouldn't let him have a problem," Tina said, "Chris, I like her."

"And I didn't have to pay her to say that."

"It was just the cost of one dinner," Tina joked.

"And money well spent," Stephanie said.

Lance watched Chris and Stephanie as her drink came and she took a sip of it, letting Chris take a sip too then saying something to him. He laughed and kissed her temple, and Lance's fears were allayed. They acted like no time passed between them, like the past was simply the past and they were instead looking to the future. He knew his friend, knew what he went through, and if all that led him back to Stephanie, it was time to start being happy for his friend.

Because his friend was indeed happy.


End file.
